Twenty Five Days Of Bishop
by ab89us
Summary: The team is given a case that is linked to Christmas in a twisted way. While working the case, Olivia is pulled into the Bishop family traditions. Holidays series part 2
1. A new case and Bishop traditions

A/N: This is a Christmas story. If you don't celebrate Christmas then you might not want to read this. There are no mentions of God or religion aside from the unspoken connection to the holiday. There may be some adult language within this story, however there are no adult themes such as drugs, alcohol or sex. There is some mention of violence.

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Heather Waylon made her way down the street, her heels clicking on the ice cold concrete while her briefcase was held close to her body. The last thing that she wanted was to take the risk of someone snatching her briefcase, odder things have happened. As a lawyer, she knew all too well about what the people of Boston would do for a quick buck or just for laughs. Stealing a lawyers briefcase would be a real hoot. She sniffed angrily at the thought and kept on walking, the idea of a peaceful night in with her cat Mr. Chubs stuck firmly in her mind.

She passed by several stores on her way, each of them displaying pictures of Christmas and joyful families. Heather would glance at each briefly and huff to herself. Christmas to her was just another holiday where children gorged themselves on treats, ran wild and drove everyone insane. She hated children. She always had, even when she herself was a child. They were awful creators that belonged bunched together with criminals and dog lovers in her mind. And nothing irked her as much as a dog lover.

"Excuse me ma'am." A man at the corner of the block called out. He was wearing a red jacket and was ringing a Unicef bell. "Would you like to donate some money for gifts for needy children this year?"

Heather looked at him like he was a rather disgusting slug, her lip curling up in distaste. "I'd much rather be eaten alive by ravenous reindeer than donate money to such a pointless holiday." She sneered and stormed away.

It was several blocks later when the first odd noise caught her ear. She spun around and glanced behind her but there was nothing there. Shrugging, she kept walking and turned into an alley. The noise happened again. It sounded like the low growl of a dog, but the shuffling and the clomping noises that accompanied it were from something completely different than a dog.

Her nerves were really starting to get on edge and before she knew it, she was running down the alley. The sounds of clomping footsteps grew faster and the growling louder as the creature chased her down the alley at a breakneck speed. She was just about the turn the corner when the creature caught up to her and pulled her back into the alley where her scream broke through the still air.

(*)(*)(*)(*)

Olivia Dunham pulled the black SUV up to the curb where she could see the flashing lights of police cars. Peter and Walter were with her, both of them trying to see what was blocked off by yellow crime scene tape. They had each been woken up early by their boss who had been as cryptic as ever about what the early morning case involved. Between the early morning, having to pick up the Bishop's, and only half a cup of coffee in her system, Olivia had no patience for the Bishop's eagerness to get past that tape and to the body.

"What do you think happened agent Dunham?" Walter asked for about the hundredth time.

"I don't know." Olivia remarked with a bite to her voice.

Both men slowly turned to look at her, Peter with a raised eyebrow.

"Did you sleep last night?" Peter asked.

Olivia just shrugged and got out of the car. She made her way over to the tape, both hearing and sensing the guys following her. They all ducked under and walked over to the body, each of them grimacing at what they saw. What used to be a woman had been reduced to the appearance of raw hamburger. Her suit had been torn and her shoes lost in the alley. The only thing that seemed to be intact was the briefcase clutched to her chest.

"What the hell?" Peter voiced what was on the tip of all their tongues.

"It looks like an animal really did a number on her." Walter said almost gleefully and crouched down next to the body. "It looks like maybe a wolf or a mountain lion."

"In the middle of the city?" Olivia questioned curiously.

Walter shrugged one shoulder and hummed in the back of his throat in the way that said 'anything could happen'.

"It wasn't wolves." Agent Broyles stated as he walked over to them, a notebook in his hands. "According to our eyewitness, she had looked out her window when she heard the screams only to see the victim being torn to pieces but ravenous reindeer."

"Reindeer, are you serious?" Peter asked with an incredulous look on his handsome face. "Are you sure she wasn't on some of Walter's happy drugs?"

"It is possible that she was hallucinating." Walter nodded. "But…."

He trailed off and looked around him. Peter sighed and rolled his eyes at his father's ability to become distracted.

"But what Walter?" He asked after a few minutes had passed.

"Well the hoof prints suggest that the witness was telling the truth." Walter claimed and pointed out the tracks around the woman's body.

"Fantastic, killer reindeer, what's next mutilation Santa?" Peter groused under his breath.

Olivia let a small grin grace her face, but it quickly faded back into the scowl she had been wearing all morning. In fact she had taken on the scowl the previous night when Peter had left early to meet with his old girlfriend Tessa. It wasn't like he was back with Tessa and he sure wasn't with Olivia so she didn't have any claim over him or any control over who he saw. But it still rubbed her the wrong way to know that he had met up with the pretty blonde.

Walter gave a small chuckle that made them all look at him in barely there toleration. He looked at them and smiled. "I was just thinking of that Christmas song, 'up on the housetop'." Walter stated.

"Up on the housetop, reindeer pause…Of course." Peter groaned and rolled his eyes. "Now is not the time for Christmas songs Walter."

"Well why not, it's December first after all." Walter pointed out. "It's time to start our annual Bishop Christmas countdown. It's time to celebrate Peter, everyone celebrates! What do you do on Christmas agent Dunham?"

"I work." Olivia quickly answered and once again felt two sets of Bishop eyes trained on her.

"Well that won't do." Walter claimed, standing up and stepping back so that the medical examiners could remove the body to his lab. "You must join us this year agent Dunham."

"I'm fine Walter, really." Olivia spread her hands out in front of her as if in defeat. "I like working on the holidays."

"Come on Dunham." Peter nudged her lightly. "How bad could it be?"

Olivia looked between the two of them and let out a heavy sigh. "Fine,"

Walter gave a hoot of joy and headed back to the car while Peter gave her a smile that made her knees feel like Jell-O and her heart skip a beat.

"Every December first, we decorate the outside of the house, so I suggest after work you change into something warm." Peter said and walked away. Olivia watched him for a moment and then followed.

They spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how their victim could have been killed by murderous reindeer. Boston wasn't exactly known as a reindeer friendly city with all the concrete and brick. Walter had at first the idea that someone trained them to be viscous, but then found some sort of brown goo that made him fall silent and disappear into the back of the lab. He didn't come back out until it was time to leave.

By the time that Olivia got to the Bishop's later that night, it was to find them outside with what looked like a whole store of lights. There were so many strands that it looked like a briar bush had mated with a rainbow and then exploded all over their yard.

"Agent Dunham!" Walter exclaimed when he saw her walking over to them. "You made it!"

Olivia gave him an indulgent smile and took in the lights that were twined around his legs and torso.

"You look a bit stuck." She pointed out.

Peter chuckled lightly and shook his head. "Oh don't worry, he's fine. He does this every year."

"Is it safe for him to be tangled in them? They could very easily turn into plastic, glowing nooses."

Peter gave her an odd look and shook his head again. "Have you never put lights up before?" He asked. Walter's head snapped up at that question.

"You've never put lights up?" Walter asked aghast.

"No?" Olivia said slowly and suddenly had Walter's surprisingly strong grasp on her wrist as he pulled her over to him and the lights.

"It's really easy once they are untangled." Walter claimed and then proceeded to tell her how to put the lights up.

By the time that he was done, Olivia was freezing and Peter was leaning against the side of the house in mild annoyance at his father.

"Can we just get the lights up now?" Peter asked.

He then helped Olivia lace the lights on the hooks hanging from the roof while Walter pulled out inflatable decorations and ones that stuck in the ground. Once they were done, the house and yard looked like something that could be seen from space.

"It looks great!" Walter announced and then hurried into the house to get warm.

"How about you come on in, we can get something warm to drink?" Peter suggested.

"I should actually get going." Olivia smiled lightly. She had enjoyed putting the lights up but still felt uncomfortable decorating with them. It made her feel like a third party intruding on their tradition.

"Are you sure?" Peter asked lightly.

"I'm sure." Olivia nodded and took a step back. "I'll see you tomorrow Peter."

"Alright, but keep in mind, this whole Bishop Christmas thing, it's all 25 days of Christmas." He announced.

Olivia gave him a weak smile and nod then headed to her car. Great, twenty five days of Bishop's all day and then later at night; this was bound to be interesting.

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Reviews are always welcome :)


	2. Another body and the perfect tree

Okay so I'm actually writing this story as I go, so this chapter just got done before posting it. I'm probably going to keep the case small because I'm not that great at writing cases. I wan to focus more on the count down to Christmas.

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Olivia sat at her desk, staring out the window at the small amount of snow that had fallen the previous night; lost in thought. She couldn't stop but think about what it had felt like to put the lights up with the Bishop's, how it had actually made her think about Christmas and the joys that it used to bring to her family. It had been so long since she had celebrated that she had actually started to forget how great it could be, how warm and happy it made her feel. She had left those feelings behind once her mother had died, they just didn't seem to fit into her life anymore, and they truly didn't belong in the lab right now.

They had landed another body early that morning. The body of Harold Turner had been found by children on their way to school, his torn up body and the hoof prints that were all over his skin and the ground suggesting that he had been killed the same way as Heather Waylon. The fact that he was also a lawyer hadn't passed them by and had made Broyles belief that the two victims were connected, but how they didn't know as of yet.

"Peter come look at this!" Olivia heard Walter call out to his son.

The grumbling and shuffling of footsteps suggested that Peter had done as he was asked, though reluctantly. Walter had been getting on everyone's nerves, pointing out different things about each body that didn't seem relevant; the small blemish on Heather Waylon's arm, the cat scratch on what was left of Harold Turner's cheek. It seemed like the lack of extra body parts, fur or spikes covering the victims had been a real letdown for Walter and had been deemed as positively boring. It made for slow work and an agitated Walter.

"Hey," Peter knocked on the doorframe to her office.

"Hey," Olivia reciprocated and offered him a seat across from her.

She was still upset by Peter having gone to see Tessa, but was trying to push it to the back of her mind. She wanted Peter, that wasn't a secret to her, but she had never made it obvious to him so how was he to know that his dating or visiting another woman would anger her?

"Walter thinks that the victims were eaten, at least partially." Peter stated.

"So we have killer reindeer on the lose eating people?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"Apparently." Peter nodded. "What are you up to?"

Olivia gave a small shrug and turned to look out the window again before she answered. "I've just been thinking about everything."

"Like what?" Peter leaned back in his seat and scrunched his brow.

"The whole Christmas celebration that you and your father do, that you've pulled me into this year," Olivia sighed. "Peter, I haven't really celebrated in a very long time. My sister and my niece stay in Chicago and I work. It used to be that we'd get together and celebrate the holiday but when our mom died, we stopped. My mom had been the only one holding us together for years after my dad died, and then when my stepfather came into the picture; it was me that held us up. Christmas was the only holiday that was good. My stepfather would leave for the day and spend it with his friends while my mom, sister and I would do something small. When my stepfather left we continued to celebrate, and then mom died and it just felt wrong. I work on the holiday so that other people, people with families, can take it off."

"Olivia if it makes you uncomfortable, you don't have to celebrate with us." Peter promised and leaned forward so that his elbows rested on his knees. "The truth is, I know what it's like not to celebrate. I also stopped when my mom died, but then when we got Walter out of St. Claire's, I found out that the holidays work for Walter the same way that medication can work for a panic attack, they calm him. The first time that he was truly lucid was the Thanksgiving after we got him out."

"You celebrate for your father?" Olivia asked a bit surprised.

"Yes." Peter nodded. "To have Walter lucid was a nice surprise after all the insanity that he had been spouting at first. Now that he's more sane, it's not as necessary but it makes him happy."

"He's lucky to have you." Olivia smiled and got a small grin in return. "So Walter thinks they're being eaten at least a little? And they are both lawyers, but so far I haven't been able to find much about either of them other than the fact that they have both worked high profile cases and that they have both been called into family court on cases."

"You think that someone is killing them because of a case that they are working?" Peter asked and grabbed one of the files off her desk.

"It's possible, but I haven't been able to find anything that links them together. As far as I know, they've never worked a case together." Olivia shrugged.

"Yeah well if the case is new then there might not be anything about it yet, right?" Peter pointed out.

"That could be." Olivia agreed just as Walter burst through the office door with a beaming smile.

"It's time to go!" He exclaimed and then left.

Peter looked over at Olivia and let out a heavy sigh. "Tonight is tree hunting night. If you don't want to come with us that's fine, but if you do then be ready in ten minutes." He said and too left the office.

Olivia watched him go, her mind racing with the thought of tree hunting. It was something that she had always loved as a girl. Her parents would get her and her sister ready and then they would spend hours upon hours looking at the different tress until the found the one that was just right. Every year that they went tree hunting was etched in her mind as joyful and happy. What harm could it do to allow herself to just try and enjoy it again? She wasn't a kid anymore, but you didn't have to be a kid to enjoy the holiday.

The sound of the Bishop's leaving the lab alerted her to the fact that her ten minutes had passed and they if she didn't make up her mind they were going to leave. Jumping up she grabbed her coat and said a quick goodnight to Astrid and headed out of the lab. Both of the men heard the door close behind her and turned, both wearing identical, happy smiles on their face. She was half expecting at least Peter to make some remark about her taking long enough to decide on what to do, but thankfully neither man seemed inclined to and lead the way to the car in silence.

"You're going to love the tree farm." Walter promised from the backseat, his face displaying nothing but joy and excitement. "It took us a while to find the perfect tree farm, but it has the best trees."

"A while Walter, it took us several days to find a tree farm that you were happy with." Peter stated while driving. He glanced at Olivia. "We were out most of the day, every day for about a week before we found this place. I thought that most of them were good, but Walter insisted that we had to find the perfect tree."

"The perfect tree?" Olivia asked and got a look from Peter that silently stated 'you shouldn't have said that'.

"Yes the perfect tree!" Walter said with a tint of annoyance. "The tree has to be just the right height, has to have a strong base that will fit nicely in the stand, and branches that can hold ornaments without problems. It also shouldn't shed too much because I don't like having needles all over the floor."

"Okay." Olivia nodded seriously.

She could see how those qualities could be very good, especially if you wanted a tree that would hold up for more than a few weeks. Olivia didn't have too much time to think about that though, the next thing she knew they were pulling into a rather crowded parking lot. There had to be at least a dozen other cars with dozens of people milling around aimlessly or being helped by people wearing bright red vests and antlers.

"Prepare to be bored out of your mind." Peter warned Olivia when they got out of the car. "Walter will takes hours to decide which one is the best." With that Walter ran off in search of the best tree, Peter and Olivia trailing behind him.

"I used to do this as a kid." Olivia admitted several minutes later while looking at a fat fir but deeming it as unacceptable. "My parents would put my sister and I in the car with our snowsuits on and a blanket. We'd spend hours looking for the perfect tree and then get hot cocoa after."

"I remember one year when I was a kid, Walter didn't want to get a tree from a tree farm, he wanted to cut his own down." Peter smirked. "I've never seen someone run as fast as he did, but when that tree started to fall, I swear his feet didn't even touch the ground. I think the worst thing is, it was too big for our house. My mom made him keep it outside and get one from the farm."

Olivia chuckled and felt herself relaxing further. It was nice to spend time with someone else during this time of year and she was glad that it got to be with the Bishop's. If she were to celebrate at all again, they were the right people to be with. Peter may not have been spewing Christmas cheer, but Walter had enough to go around and it was rather contagious, enough so that Olivia had been searching for a tree that fit all of Walter's expectations. Her eyes hadn't left the rows upon rows of spruces, firs and pines the whole time that she and Peter had been talking. Now they lighted onto a nice pine with a thick trunk and branches, a nice pointed top and very little needles under it.

"Hey Walter, I think Olivia found the tree!" Peter called out and nudged Olivia's shoulder playfully. "He's going to love this one."

Olivia felt a bit skeptical, but that instantly faded away when Walter's eyes widened and lit up like lightening bugs. After several exclamations of how perfect the tree was and how wonderful it would look in the living room, they got someone to help them get the tree to the car and paid for it. They then climbed into the car and started heading to the Bishop house, only for Peter to pull off the road a couple of minutes later. He told them that he'd be right back and headed into the store he had stopped them at, returning minutes later with three large and steaming hot chocolates. He passed one to his father and then handed one to Olivia, the two sharing a smile.

"Thank you." Olivia said.

"You're welcome." Peter responded and started to drive again.

Getting the tree into the house proved to be something of a problem. Though the door was plenty wide enough, Walter would drop his end without warning, causing Peter to fall backwards a few times. Many explicit curses were passed between the two of them until they eventually got the tree into the stand and secured. Olivia had been sitting back on the couch, her cocoa clutched her in hands, trying not to laugh at them; trying and failing.

"Oh you think you could have done better?" Peter called out teasingly. "I bet you would have dropped the tree more than Walter."

"Oh you think so?" Olivia crossed her arms over her chest. "The two of you grabbed the weakest points of the tree and ultimately made it so that the tree felt heavier. If you had both grabbed it around the middle and tried to move it that way, it would have been up a while ago."

Peter and Walter glanced at each other and then at the tree before their looks turned to her. She could see the stubbornness in their eyes, but also could see that they knew she was right.

"Well then you could have helped." Peter half mumbled.

"Now that would have taken the fun out of watching the two of you." Olivia teased and got identical mock glares in return.

"Well the tree is in." Walter needlessly pointed out.

"Are we going to decorate it then?" Olivia asked.

"Oh no, we do that tomorrow." Peter announced and saw her look of confusion. "We do the whole twenty five day countdown in this house. That means that each day is something different, if we decorated now, then we wouldn't have anything for tomorrow."

"So what comes the day after tomorrow then?" Olivia questioned.

"Na-uh, if you want to know then you have to show up." Peter shook his head. "That's just how it works sweetheart."

Olivia felt her heart skip at the endearment and nodded. "Well then I'll just have to keep showing up."

"That sounds like a plan to me." Peter agreed with a face splitting smile.

"You're going to love the next twenty five days!" Walter promised and then took off to the kitchen to make more cocoa.

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Please leave a review to let me know what you thought. Also if there is anything that you want to see happen with the case or the people involved, just let me know :)


	3. Clues and ornaments

Thank you to Evelyn and Mel for their help with this chapter.

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Astrid sat her computer, her fingers typing away while site after site flashed across her screen. They had found an almost perfect footprint in the mud the previous night, right next to their third victim. Whoever was killing these people was doing it in a quick manner that left them all feeling a bit uneasy. Three victims in three days never left them feeling easy, and always made them more determined to find out who was doing it, if only to put a stop to the killing.

The sound of Peter and Olivia walking into the lab pulled her eyes away from her computer screen momentarily so that she could observe them like she had been doing for the past couple of days. She had seen the way that they looked at each other, with a mix of exasperation and lust, and had been surprised to see those looks changing over the past couple of days. It had started with Peter's meeting with the girl from his past which had brought on a look of jealousy and concern in Olivia's eyes. Once the Bishop Christmas countdown had started though and Olivia was pulled into the mix, that look at turned into reluctant joy and then into acceptance and happiness. It was refreshing to see Olivia relax.

"Astrid, have you found anything about that footprint?" Olivia asked, walking over to where Astrid was.

"Not really." Astrid shook her head. "The shoe is a size eleven so I think we can rule out a woman. Other than that the tread is from that of a men's schooner boat oxford, they are rather cheap shoes that are made to look more expensive. They are around forty dollars which means that almost anyone could buy them."

"Well Walter is still working on that goo he found on the bodies, he thinks that it might be some type of drug, but he's not sure and I have refused numerous times to let him try it." Peter stated and looked at the computer screen. "This victim was also a lawyer, but worked with children, not adults like the other two."

"Broyles thinks that it could be a custody battle issue; however there are thousands of custody battles being handled on a daily basis, which doesn't narrow it down at all. We are eliminating cases where the parents are looking for joint custody, but that will take a while." Olivia explained.

"I'll let Walter know." Peter said and left the two women standing there.

Astrid looked over at Olivia and saw her watching Peter leave, a look of content in her eyes.

"It's been a while since I've seen you happy." Astrid stated.

"I like spending time with the Bishop's." Olivia shrugged. "It was a bit odd at first, but the whole family tradition they have going on is starting to rub off on me a bit, I think."

"I'm glad; it's good for you to relax a bit." Astrid smiled.

Olivia smiled as well and then headed to her office where she was surprised to see a small wrapped box with a bow on top. Opening it, her eyes fell onto a tiny ornament. It was a glass bobble with an 'O' written on it with glitter glue, it was simple but it was perfect.

"I thought it appropriate to get you one to go on the tree." Peter said, walking over to her. "Walter and I both have one and if you're going to be decorating with us tonight, then it only makes sense for you to have one as well."

"Thank you." Olivia said and grabbed her phone which had started to ring. "Dunham," she answered and listened to the person on the other end of the call. "We'll be right there."

"What's up?" Peter asked when she slipped her phone back in her pocket.

"That was Broyles, he's narrowed the list of custody cases down to those of men trying to win full custody of their children. It's surprising how few there are." Olivia stated.

"Not everyone is ready to be a parent." Peter pointed out and followed her from the office and to her car.

"That's true, but you'd think that people would want to care for their children. Women do it too, where they'll have the kid and then want nothing to do with it." Olivia sighed and shook her head.

"Well let's just hope that the guy trying to get his kid won't do anything to hurt the kid." Peter stated.

Olivia silently agreed and drove the distance to the federal building where they were met up by Broyles. He handed them a list of suspects with a light sigh and frown.

"Death by reindeer during the holiday, and all because we think there is a man out there killing these people so that he can get custody of his kid." Broyles said.

"He must not realize that killing people is going to land him in jail and away from his kid forever." Peter announced and got nods of agreement from the agents.

"I have agent Jessup questioning a few of the men that we've been able to get into interrogation. A couple of them did not answer their phone or call us back. We'll give them some time to do so before I send people out to their houses to find them." Broyles explained. "Have you or Dr. Bishop found anything else yet that could be useful?"

"We have the brand of shoe that our suspect wore, but nothing concrete as of yet." Olivia shook her head. "Dr. Bishop is looking into a substance that was found on the bodies, but he isn't sure what it is and hasn't made much headway on it."

"Okay, Dunham I want you to interview Thom Sullen. He lives near where the first victim was killed and is trying to get sole custody of his son." Broyles said.

Olivia nodded and headed into the room only to come out minutes later with nothing new to connect the man to any of the three murders. Broyles also struck out with the man he was interviewing, both of them looking frustrated when they met back up with Peter who had just gotten off the phone.

"I'm taking it they didn't pan out." Peter said and slipped his phone in his pocket.

"They both have alibis." Broyles let out a sigh and looked at the time. "How about you head home for the night, we're not going to get much more done right now until we can get out other suspects in for questioning."

"Yes sir." Olivia said and left the room with Peter right behind her.

"Walter will be pleased to go home early. He has this thing where certain ornaments have to come out in a certain order and be put in special areas. Why, I have no idea, but it's something that pleases him and keeps him busy for a while." Peter announced caught up to her so that they were walking together. "Do you want to go to the lab and get your ornament and then just come to the house with us or show up later?"

Olivia glanced at Peter and couldn't help but chuckle at the excited look on his face. It appeared that it wasn't just Walter who thoroughly enjoyed the Bishop traditions.

"I'll just come with you from work." Olivia said and swore by the look on his face that he was just seconds from actually jumping in the air and clicking his heels in happiness.

They made their way back to the lab and grabbed Walter, the ornament and Astrid who was more than happy to join them. As it turned out, Peter hadn't been lying about Walter's decorating method. He grabbed out box after box from the storage closet and took out only certain ornaments and allowed them to be placed on the tree. By the time that the last box was emptied, they had been working on the tree for hours, leaving just the star to go on. Since Peter was the tallest, he was the one that put the star onto the top, all of them standing back to admire their work.

"I think it looks wonderful." Astrid said cheerfully.

"This calls for hot cocoa!" Walter clapped his hands and literally ran to the kitchen.

Astrid smiled indulgently and then followed him to make sure that he didn't burn anything down, like the house.

"You seem a little more relaxed." Peter noted to Olivia who gave a half shrug.

"It's fun." She admitted.

"Agent Dunham having fun, now that's a first." Peter teased but saw a pensive look in her eyes. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Olivia shook her head but Peter wasn't buying it.

Though she had been acting friendlier to him the past couple of days, he hadn't forgotten how shut off she had seemed when they had first started the case and asked her to join them.

"Liv," He urged.

"The other day you went to see Tessa and I just…I'm worried that maybe you're in trouble or could be." Olivia half admitted. She wasn't about to tell him how she had been jealous of the other woman.

"I'm fine; Tess just needed some help with something. I promise you, I'm not getting back into my old life." Peter answered.

"Okay." Olivia said relieved.

"Cocoa!" Walter called out, pulling them both into the kitchen where they were served hot, steaming cups of chocolate.

Olivia and Astrid sat on the couch together while Peter and Walter both took chairs, all of them staying silent as they started to sip their hot drinks.

"Thanks for inviting me." Astrid piped up minutes later.

"The more the merrier Astronaut." Walter beamed.

Astrid rolled her eyes at him and sank back into the couch in comfort.

"What would you be doing if you weren't here?" Peter asked Astrid.

"I'd just be at home I guess." She stated. "I spend Christmas day with my dad but the rest of the season is just me at home for the most part. I bake a lot of cookies and pies mostly."

Walter's eyes lit up at the thought of cookies and pies. He turned to look at Peter with a pleading expression.

"We'll make cookies later." Peter promised.

"I love pie, apple pie." Walter announced and drained the last of his cup.

"We should take a picture of the tree." Olivia said.

Everyone agreed and stood up. Olivia was expecting to just take a picture of the tree itself and was surprised when Walter set the camera on a timer and pulled them all in around the tree. Before they knew it, Walter was telling them to smile and the flash of the camera went off, freezing their happy faces in their first family picture.


	4. House decorations and new ideas

Sorry that it's short and posted so late (it's 9:45 pm EST here) I had lack of inspiration earlier and then a high school band concert to go to

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Peter grabbed a freshly popped bag of popcorn and opened it to let the steam out and cool the kernels. Walter always enjoyed stringing the crunchy treat with thread and lacing it around the room. He would paint food coloring onto each kernel so that it was more decorative and even put glitter on them from time to time. Peter was glad that it was one decoration that his father never insisted that they put away for the next year; he could only imagine how stall and nasty the popcorn would be a year from now.

Once the bag had cooled, he made his way towards the living room but stopped in the doorway. Walter was sticking window stickers onto the freshly cleaned windows while Olivia and Astrid were sitting on the couch, painting wooden angles and Santa's. It was nice to have Astrid with them, she always seemed to bring even more cheer wherever she went. Olivia, however, was still acting oddly around Peter. He knew from their discussion the night before that she was worried about him getting pulled back into the life that he had vowed to leave behind, but there seemed to be something else there as well. It was like she hadn't completely trusted his answer and that both annoyed and hurt him. He had thought that they had gotten over their trust issues and put them aside.

"Peter bring the popcorn over, we'll start coloring them." Astrid said when her eyes fell onto him in the doorway.

Peter did as he was told and placed the bag on the table in front of the girls who started to paint the different colors onto each kernel. He pushed his thoughts of Olivia to the back of his mind and started to help them, knowing that it could take a while to get them done and dried so that Walter could string them up. The man in question had moved onto opening bags of tinsel and placing the annoying decoration carefully over the branches of the tree and then twining them around the arms of chairs, over the desk and all around any piece of furniture or an item that he felt should have the glossy plastic adorning them.

It was refreshing to just be able to sit back and relax for a while. They had been pummeled with case after case and now had the Christmas related one that no matter where they turned, they kept running into dead ends. It was getting rather frustrating for all of them even though they had only been on it for a few days. Peter just wished that they could get the case solved and over with so that they could enjoy the holiday without anything weighing heavily on their minds. One look at Olivia told him that that was exactly what was going on with her at the moment. It must be a twisted sort of curse to have a mind that never stopped and a memory that never forgot.

"What's on your mind?" Peter asked, drawing Olivia's eyes to his.

"I just keep thinking about the case and about how someone could go about killing others with killer reindeer of all things." Olivia lifted one shoulder in a halfhearted shrug. "You'd think that someone trying to win custody of their child would stop and think about a different way of doing it; one that wouldn't land them in jail and away from their child for the rest of their life."

"Maybe it has nothing to do with a custody battle?" Astrid suggested. Everyone's eyes turned to her in curiosity. "Well if you are fighting for your kid to live with you then wouldn't you do something like buy the kid gifts or do other things like that to show you're the better parent?"

"That would make sense." Peter agreed and leaned back in his seat. "But who would want these lawyers dead?"

"Who wouldn't?" Walter asked from his spot near the Christmas tree. "Most people dislike lawyers."

"Yes, but enough to kill them by using rabid reindeer?" Peter questioned. "You'd have to be pretty angry to do something that like."

"I don't know." Astrid stated.

"Well it's worth looking into when we get back to work tomorrow." Olivia agreed.

"Yes, but until then there are decorations to make and put up." Walter declared and started to paint some of the popcorn.

They spent a good chunk of the morning painting the popcorn and stringing it up and making other decorations like paper chains, paper snowflakes and glitter covered snowmen. The coffee table and floor were both littered with paper, sticky glue and sparkling glitter by the time that they got around to placing the decorations around the house. Most of the spots could be reached easily, but others needed the use of a chair or step ladder. It wasn't until they got to decorating the top of a rather tall curio cabinet that a chair and step ladder just wouldn't do. The only way to put decorations on top was for someone to sit on the others shoulders. Astrid, who was afraid of heights opted out quickly, and Peter was fairly certain that he couldn't lift his father an inch off the floor not to mention have him sit on his shoulders, which just left Olivia who looked a bit skeptical but allowed for Peter to bend down in front of her so that she could climb onto his shoulders.

"Are you sure about this?" She asked tentatively while looking at Peter's back.

"Well it's either this or you find some drug that makes you taller." Peter said.

Olivia let out a small breath and carefully got onto Peter's back. Once he was sure that she was securely in place, he slowly stood up and grasped her legs to make sure that she didn't slid off of him. Peter walked them over to the curio cabinet and Walter handed the decorations up to her, instructing her on where everything was to go and only allowing Peter to put her down when he was certain that everything looked perfect and wouldn't have to rearranged at any point in time.

Olivia was rather glad to be off of Peter's shoulders, though it had been nice to be so close to him for the short period of time. She only let herself think about that for a few minutes though before her mind started to race once more with what Astrid had suggested. Could it be that they were looking at the wrong angle and that the killer had another agenda other than trying to kill off the people that were keeping his child from him? It was definitely something to look into when they got back to work the next day. Right now, however, Walter was once again demanding their attention and pulling them all back into decorating. For now she'd just let herself relax and enjoy the rest of the day.

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Please let me know what you thought. Reviews are appreciated. :)


	5. Jealousy and lights

Olivia flipped through the file that Broyles had given her. It contained the names of people how had threatened the now deceased lawyers, and people that that were not satisfied with the job that the lawyers had done. It was a considerably long list.

Astrid's theory that the lawyers hadn't been killed over a custody battled seemed to pan out once the last of the suspects had been tracked down and interrogated. Each of them had solid alibis that put them in places other than the crime scenes. But that meant having to go through a whole new list of suspects and do more interviews before this case could finally be closed and they could get to the bottom of it, find out why someone would do what they were doing and in such an odd way.

Groaning, Olivia picked up her phone and scrolled through the numbers until she reached Peter's. He had left earlier in the day claiming to have something important that he had to do. Though she'd never admit it to his face, Olivia liked having him around to bounce questions and suggestions off. She dialed his number and waited a few beats before the line picked up, but instead of getting Peter's voice, a woman answered.

"Hello?" The woman asked casually like answering Peter's phone was a normal occurrence.

"Uh, hi, I'm looking for Peter." Olivia said, trying to keep her cool but already having a strong feeling of who the woman was.

"He's out right now, but I can let him know that you called." The woman said cheerfully.

"No that's fine, I'll call him later." Olivia stated and hung up.

She put her phone down on the desk and glared at it like it was the reason for her anger. He had said that he wasn't getting back into his old life, so why would Tessa of all people be answering his phone? Then again he had also said that he had helped her out with something, so maybe, just maybe, Olivia was overreacting and that he was helping Tessa still? Either way, Olivia could feel her stomach drop and her blood start to boil at the idea of Peter being with that woman and potentially getting himself into trouble. It was all too easy to fall back into bad habits, and he had more than Olivia cared to count.

Honestly, she was just worried about him. She hadn't forgotten the look on Peter's face when she had lied to him to get him back in the states to get his father out. He had been honestly scared that she knew something that could get him into a lot of trouble, or worse. She didn't know all of the in's and out's of what he had done while working as a conman, but from what she did know, it hadn't been pleasant and had been anything but safe.

She groaned again and tried to push the ideas of Peter getting sucked back into his old life and Tessa being around into the back of her mind in favor of focusing on the job again. By the end of the day, she had made at least a dozen phone calls that all led to nothing, and was starting to get one major headache when Peter walked into the lab to get his father, Astrid and Olivia so that they could head out. Olivia had no idea what was planned for that night, but for the first time since they had started the twenty five day countdown, she didn't feel like going. She didn't feel like spending hours that night doing something overly family oriented while knowing that the man she cared for wasn't being completely honest with her.

"Hey, are you coming?" Peter asked when Olivia walked out into the lab.

If it wasn't for the hopeful looks that both Walter and Astrid gave her, she probably would have said no, but instead she found herself nodding and following them out. As it turned out, that night was the night where the Bishop's would drive from town to town, taking in the sights that each house had to present. Some were decorated to the nines while others had barely anything to show. They each enjoyed their time out, pointing to the houses that they liked the best and making comments on what houses that lacked decorations could do next year. They had eventually gotten out of the car and started to walk around observing the lights. It was rather peaceful and Olivia had almost put her call to Peter out of her mind when he walked over to her with a small frown.

"Are you okay?" He asked and put his hands in his pockets. "You haven't really been that talkative tonight and have barely smiled."

"I have a lot on my mind." Olivia honestly answered, not looking at him.

"Okay, I can understand that, but you could at least make an effort to seem happy." Peter pointed out.

Olivia looked over at him with a deep frown that took Peter by surprise.

"I'm sorry if my preoccupied mind isn't working out for you." She snapped, taking Peter aback.

"Okay, now I know something is really bothering you." Peter stated with a frown of his own again. "What is going on Olivia?"

"I called you earlier." Olivia admitted and saw his frown deepen.

"I never got a call from you." He needlessly pointed out.

"Yeah you wouldn't have, well you would have if you had been the one to answer the phone when I had called." Olivia growled and started to walk away from him.

It only took Peter a minute to catch up to her, his hand finding her elbow but she shrugged it off, still not looking at him.

"Olivia…"

"You said that you were done with your old life Peter." Olivia cut him off. "You told me before that you were not going back."

"I'm not." Peter insisted but Olivia shook her head letting him know that she didn't believe him. "We all have pasts Olivia, and sometimes it's hard to walk away from them. I might not be working for Big Eddie anymore, but that doesn't mean that during my time working for him that I didn't make friends. I like to see my old friends from time to time, last I knew that wasn't a crime."

"Is that why Tessa answered the phone when I called you?" Olivia said and saw him visibly flinch letting her know that she had been correct about who had answered the phone.

"I told you, I'm helping her out." Peter insisted in a voice that suggested he wasn't telling the full truth.

"Is that what you're calling it?" Olivia sighed heavily. "You know what, it doesn't matter. I live nearby; I'm just going to walk home."

"Olivia." Peter said a bit angrily now. "Why the hell does it matter if I'm seeing Tessa or not?"

"I'll see you tomorrow." Olivia stated firmly and headed off into the snow.

Peter watched her leave, his anger still fresh on the surface when he finally turned away from where she had left and went over to his father and Astrid.

"Where did Olivia go?" Walter asked.

"Home." Peter answered shortly.

The other two glanced at each other but knew better than to push Peter and started to walk down the street, leaving him to mull over his own thoughts.

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AN: Okay normally I don't do this, but I'm seriously not sure if anyone even likes this story so please leave a review or a pm, heck even a smoke signal, just so that I know that people are still interested in this story. If there isn't any interest then I will be removing it from the site.


	6. Closed case and night sledding

If anyone found my previous author's note to be rude, then sorry, it wasn't my intention. I just wanted to make sure that this story was worth updating still and if it wasn't then I'd close it and focus more on other stories that I'm writing. I'm also not a huge fan of this chapter, but oh well.

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Walter puttered around the lab, looking from one shelf to another, keeping stock of how much of each item he had. He hadn't been able to get any information from Peter the night before about what he and Olivia had argued over, and decided that it might be best if he just kept to himself and avoided his son and the pretty agent for the day. He'd approach them later that night when things hopefully had calmed down between them. However that proved to be impossible when Olivia walked into the lab stating that they had interviews to do and that they had whittled their suspect list down to a few men who had motive and desire to see the deaths of the lawyers that were still lying on Walter's tables.

He could see how reluctant both Olivia and his son were to be working together, but figured that it was for them to figure out, whatever it was that had gotten in between them to begin with. He watched them leave and then went back to puttering around, hoping that the problem would resolve itself.

Peter sat in the passenger side of the car, facing away from Olivia, while trying to figure out a way to broach the subject of Tessa without it ending in a fight between them. Though it irked him to know that she wasn't impressed with the friends he kept, he could understand why she was concerned and if he wasn't fooling himself, he was fairly certain that she was jealous of Tessa. The latter thought actually thrilled him a bit. Especially since his relationship with Tessa was plutonic, though he could have made it more obvious the night before instead of stating that he was seeing Tessa again.

"So, who are we interviewing and what would the motive be?" Peter asked, hoping that this was neutral ground, judging by the fact that she didn't look like she was about to kill him, it was.

"Mark Welling and David Yeats." Olivia stated stiffly. "They both threatened to kill the lawyers and are both scientists so they'd be able to somehow alter the reindeer so that they are carnivorous."

"I'm just glad that Walter hasn't tried to do something like that." Peter half joked but didn't even get a smidge of a smile from her.

They lapsed back into silence and went in different directions once they got to the federal building. Olivia went towards one of the interrogation rooms while Peter went to an observation area. It was only a few minutes later when David Yeats announced that he was innocent and that he had an alibi, one that was quickly discovered to be true. The left Mark Welling, a stout middle aged man with a sour look on his face.

"I didn't do anything wrong." He insisted the second that he sat down across the table from Olivia.

"We have reason to believe that you played a part in the death of three people Mr. Welling." Olivia stated. "You threatened all three of them, saying that you were going to kill them and now they're dead. You have to see how bad that looks to us."

"Sure I wanted them dead, but that don't mean I killed them." He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Mr. Welling, we not only have reason to think that you killed them but we also got a warrant for your shoes. The tread of your shoes match that of a shoe print at one of the crime scenes." Olivia announced and saw him flinch.

"Anyone could own those shoes." He defended quickly.

"That's true, however we have agents looking through your house, what do you think they're going to find there? Rabid animals maybe?" Olivia asked and saw the man pale, his arms dropping to his side.

"They, they can't do that." Mr. Welling stuttered.

"Well they are, right now." Olivia claimed.

Mark Welling jumped up from his seat and grasped the edge of the table, looking like he was either going to throw up or feint.

"They can't go to my house, it's not safe! Not with those creatures there! I barely have control over them!" He exclaimed. "I was only able to tame them enough to send them after those jackass lawyers!"

"So the killer reindeer are at your house?" Olivia questioned lightly.

"Yes, of course they are where else would they be?" He yelled but stopped when he saw the look on Olivia's face.

"That's all that I need, thanks." Olivia smirked and left the room where she was met by Peter again.

"You really don't have agents there do you?" He asked.

"No." Olivia shook her head. "But we do have to send someone out to get those things. I'm just glad that it's not me."

"Are you still going to come with us tonight?" Peter tentatively asked a few minutes later.

"I don't know." Olivia sighed slightly.

"Look Liv, the thing with Tessa…She's my friend and she's with this abusive ass. I'm just helping her out with setting up a lawyer and getting a divorce." Peter explained. Olivia stopped walking and turned to face him. "I told you that I'm not getting dragged back into my old life. I know how dangerous my old line of work was. When I was working for Big Eddie, I didn't have anyone to worry about but myself, but that's different now. I have my father and my friends which includes you."

"Okay." Olivia said and started to walk again.

"Okay, that's all that you're going to say after getting angry at me for seeing her?" Peter asked a bit incredulously.

"Peter, I was worried about you, that's all. I just wanted to make sure that you're safe and that you're not doing anything stupid." Olivia explained.

"This doesn't even fall under 'best avoided' by my standards." Peter promised.

"Good." Olivia said and took a deep breath. "What does Walter have planned for the night?"

"You'll have to show up to find out just like every night so far." Peter pointed out with a small smile.

"What time does he want us all to meet?" Olivia asked, feeling a sense of relief and knowing that he wasn't getting himself into trouble and that he wasn't dating Tessa.

"It has to be really dark so he wants to leave around eight." Peter said.

"And you won't tell me what it is?"

"Nope." Peter shook his head and walked out of the building.

It was just before eight when Olivia showed up at the house only to see sleds strapped onto the roof of the station wagon. Astrid, who was standing by the car, gave her a small wave and walked over to her.

"Apparently we are going night sledding." She explained.

"That sounds….safe?" Olivia questioned when Peter and Walter walked out of the house and over to the car.

"It's safe enough as long as you don't hit a tree or fall into a ditch." Peter shrugged.

"That's reassuring." Astrid answered and got into the car.

The hill that Walter picked was by far the steepest that they had found that night, though the bottom was clear meaning that they would be safe to sled down without fear of injury. It seemed like an easy enough task, until Walter announced that there were rules. There were to be teams of two, and the team members were to tied together. One member was to face forward while the other, the one that would steer the sled, had to face their teammate. Of course, since Walter got to pick teams, Olivia ended up with Peter, the two of them facing each other while Olivia sat almost completely on his lap.

"Are you ready?" Peter asked once everyone was situated on the sleds.

"As ready as I'm going to be." Olivia remarked.

Walter then gave a signal to Peter and the two sleds were propelled forward and down the hill at such speed that Olivia found herself clinging to Peter who was squinting into the dark in order to see.

"Turn to the left." He instructed, the two of them avoiding a rock when Olivia turned them.

Peter then instructed Olivia to take a right, just barely avoiding a tree that whizzed by them. By the time that they reached the bottom of the hill, they had avoided rocks, trees and holes. Walter and Astrid who were stuck in a hole apparently hadn't fared as well.

"You want to go again?" Peter asked, tugging on their tied hands.

"Sounds good to me." Olivia smiled and grabbed one side of the sled; the two of them heading back up the hill.


	7. Ice skating and realizations

Well this is being posted a lot later than I planned (11:30 pm here) hope you like it!

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"Walter come on, we're going to be late!" Peter called up the stairs. His father having gone upstairs to get changed over twenty minutes prior.

"I'm coming, relax." Walter huffed and walked down the stairs to meet his son.

Walter was wearing what looked like almost every sweater that he own, a thick pair of snow pants and a pair of sneaker. Neon yellow ice skates were slung over his left shoulder, reminding Peter of exactly what they were about to go out and do, ice skating; not his favorite sport in the least.

"Olivia said that she'd meet us there." Peter announced and grabbed his own pair of blue skates that Walter had insisted he buy since his old white ones apparently would no longer work for the Bishop tradition of an all-day skate-a-thon, something that Peter silently referred to as torture and humiliate Peter day. He hated skating and skating hated him, end of story.

"Ankylosaurus said that she'd meet us there as well." Walter said, not seeing the incredulous look that Peter gave him at his inability to remember Astrid's name after years of working with her.

"Ankylosaurus is nowhere close to Astrid's name, not unless she suddenly turned into a dinosaur." Peter sighed heavily.

"Wouldn't that be wonderful?" Walter asked with a gleam in his eyes.

"If she turned into a dinosaur…No, that would not be wonderful in fact that would raise a lot of eyebrows and even more questions." Peter pointed out.

"We work for the fringe division and just had a case where a man was killing people with Reindeer Peter…Anything is possible." Walter stated.

Unable to argue that point, Peter just let out a small groan and led his father from the house and to the car. It didn't take long to get to the skating rink where they were almost instantly met by Astrid who had a pair of pink skates clutched in one hand and a coffee in the other.

"Asparagus, it's good to see that you found the place." Walter beamed.

Astrid rolled her eyes and took a sip of her coffee. "Yeah it wasn't too hard to find. Olivia's already here as well."

"She is?" Peter asked, giving the area around them a cursory glance.

"Yeah, she was here before me. You should see her on skates, she's a real pro." Astrid praised and pointed to the skating area.

It wasn't long after that Peter's eyes fell onto Olivia who was skating around the edges with ease. He watched her weave around other people and stop on a dime when needed. It made him feel even worse about his lack of skating skills. He was sure to look like a massive fool out on the ice and having her, the gifted skater, there to watch wasn't going to be fun. She must have sensed him watching her though, because the next thing he knew she was skating her way over to them and stopped at the edge of the rink with flushed cheeks and bright eyes.

"Hi." She greeted the Bishop's, a bit out of breath.

"It's good to see that you can skate." Walter smiled and glanced at Peter. "That's much more than what I can say about him."

"Gee thanks Walter, let's just point out to the world that I can't skate." Peter grimaced. "I would also like to point out that upon knowing I can't skate, you might have, I don't know, picked a different thing to do on December 7th. But no, it has to be skating."

"We could always get you a chair." Olivia lightly teased and got a glare from him. "Come on, put your skates on, you can skate with me."

"You sure you want to do that, he's pretty awful." Walter pointed out while lacing his skates.

Peter shot his father a look and sat down on the bench to take his shoes off. Once the skates were on, he very slowly made his way over to Olivia on very wobbly feet and clutched the side.

"I hate skating." Peter declared.

"Come on, you'll learn to like it." Olivia promised and held her hands out to Peter.

He looked at them for a minute, debating on if going out on the ice with her as a teacher would be more or less embarrassing than going out on his own and surely falling on his butt in front of everyone. Deciding that going with her was best, he grasped her hands and let her slowly pull him onto the ice where he almost instantly lost his balance, nearly pulling her down as well.

"Sorry." He mumbled.

"It's okay, everyone has to learn at some point in time." Olivia smiled at him and started to skate them around the edges. "If you want to stop, just let me know."

Peter nodded and focused on his feet, feeling as if the skates were some foreign object out to humiliate and torment him. It wasn't until he felt a bit more comfortable with them on that he looked up and found Olivia studying him.

"What?" He asked a little self-consciously.

"Nothing, it's just refreshing to be good at something that you're not." Olivia admitted.

"You're great at a lot of stuff that I'm not." Peter pointed out.

"Oh really, like what?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.

Peter contemplated that for a second. "Well you're much better at catching criminals, you can count cards better than I can and then there is the whole Cortexiphan induced mind freak stuff that you can do that I can't even imagine being able to pull off."

"Yeah well I don't have a genius level IQ, I can't really keep up with Walter without reading very thick science books, and I can't read people the way that you do. It's nice to be able to skate and to be able to teach you how to. I like it." Olivia claimed.

"I'd much rather have you as a teacher than Walter. When I was a kid, he tried to teach me. That didn't work out well and left my mom angry at him for a very long time." Peter smirked at the memory.

"What happened?" Olivia asked.

"He put some skates on me and then literally pushed me onto the icy lake behind the house that we owned. I ended out in the very middle and couldn't get back without having to crawl over the frozen water. My mom went out and got me since Walter had refused to. He claimed that I needed to learn how to skate and that was the best way to make sure that I did." Peter explained and chuckled at Olivia's shocked look. "This is Walter we're talking about here. You don't want to know the things that he tried to pull off that my mom put a stop to."

"Good thing that your mom was there then." Olivia smiled and started to skate them a bit faster now that Peter appeared to have his footing.

They lapsed into silence as they continued to gain speed and Peter started to feel like he could actually stand on his own two feet for longer than a minute. That however proved wrong when Olivia let go of his hands and skated few feet away from him to give him space. It was maybe ten seconds later when he found himself flat on the ice. Olivia helped me up and they continued to skate until both of them were exhausted and Peter had fallen so many times that he was sure he was bruised or was going to be. They made their way off the ice and joined Astrid and Walter who had both already stopped skating and were clutching cups of hot chocolate in their cold hands.

"You didn't do too badly." Walter lightly praised.

Peter smiled back at the older man, his hands still hot and feeling a bit tingly from having held Olivia's for so long. It had felt great being so close to her that day, though those feelings he'd contemplate later. He knew that Olivia was attracted to him, her jealously over Tessa had proved that beyond a doubt, but he still wasn't completely sure how he felt about her. She was an attractive woman but she was also his friend. Even if he wanted more, was he ready to risk their friendship for it?

"We should go back to the house and warm up." Walter suggested while Peter and Olivia removed their skates.

The older man and Astrid both headed to the cars while the other two put their shoes back on. It wasn't until they got up and started to walk back to the cars as well that Olivia gave him a smile that nearly stopped him in his tracks. The smile was full of caring, happiness and if he wasn't mistaken, lust. With that one smile he knew, it would be worth taking the risk.


	8. Caroling

Peter leaned up against the wall in the waiting area, watching as planes came in and left the airport terminal. He was seeing Tessa off that day before he would go back to the house to meet up with Walter, Astrid, Olivia and this time, even Broyles. Walter had pulled their boss into the mix that morning when Broyles had admitted that he was going to be spending Christmas alone. His ex-wife and her new husband were apparently bringing Broyles kids out of state for the holiday, leaving Broyles with nothing to do but mill around on his own. Peter didn't mind bringing the other man into their mix and found that Olivia was surprisingly happy with the idea as well. That was more than he could say about him bringing Tessa to the airport.

When he had told Olivia that Tessa was going home and that she needed a ride to the airport, Olivia hadn't said anything and hadn't been against it, but the look on her face told him that she wasn't altogether thrilled. Now that he had admitted to himself that he wanted her just as much as she wanted him, he could see why spending time with another beautiful woman could rub Olivia the wrong way. Upon seeing the look he had stated that he would make it quick and would meet them back at the house for lunch which Walter insisted they all eat together. Because you know, that wasn't going to be awkward with Broyles there, the stoic rock statue that barely ever smiled.

"My flight should be here soon, so you can head out if you want." Tessa stated when she walked over to stand by Peter.

"I'll wait." Peter insisted.

The truth was, that he wanted to make sure she really got onto the plane and stayed there. Tessa was good at causing trouble and it had always dragged Peter down as well. Getting her onto that plane and back to her home was the only thing that he wanted to do at the moment. The last thing he needed was to leave now only for her to skip out and head back into her life in Boston where Big Eddie would pull her back in.

"If that's what you want to do." Tessa said with a hint of annoyance at her old friend.

Peter just nodded and didn't move from his spot until Tessa's plane was called. He walked her to the gate and watched to make sure that she got onto the plane. It wasn't until the plane was leaving the terminal that he let himself relax, knowing that there was no way for her to get off now and change her mind.

He left the airport and headed back to the house where he could see the three cars belonging to their guests parked along the road, meaning that they were all there and just waiting on him to arrive. When he got inside it was to be greeted by the smells of several different aromatic and delicious dishes. In fact there were so many different types of food it looked as if they were going to be celebrating Thanksgiving again.

"What's with all the food?" He asked while trying to take it all in.

"It's Christmas time, you need to make and eat good food at Christmas." Walter stated with a look that suggested that his son had gone crazy. "Agent Broyles even brought some stuff over."

That mildly surprised Peter who glanced at Broyles. Broyles in turn shrugged one shoulder but didn't say anything. To say that he looked uncomfortable would be an understatement. The man was practically squirming in his seat and was looking around like the house was about to cave in on them.

"Are you okay?" Peter questioned him.

"Yeah, I just don't normally do anything to celebrate the season except for buy gifts for my kids and spend a few hours with them on Christmas day." Broyles explained.

"Well you don't have to worry, we're not going to judge you on anything or force you to do anything that you don't want to." Peter promised and saw Broyles relax a bit.

"Come on, let's eat, we're going to need our energy for tonight." Walter insisted and ushered everyone around the table.

There was practically everything that you could think of on the now groaning table. Turkey, ham, duck, biscuits, buns, carrots, peas, half a dozen different pies, you name it and it was there. He wasn't sure who cooked which dish but they were all amazing and full of wonderful flavors. They all ate until they were full and then turned to Walter who had cleared his throat to announce what that nights event was going to be. Everyone blanched, however, when the word caroling came out of Walter's mouth. They all then looked at each other as if gauging how much of what Walter had said was believable.

"You can't be serious." Olivia said slowly.

"Oh he's serious." Peter groaned and leaned back in his chair. "Walter, I thought that after the last time that we went caroling, that you decided it would be best to avoid it."

"Well yes, that time was unfortunate, but I think it will be much better this year with everyone else with us." Walter stated tentatively.

"Walter, last year you went up to a door to carol and got hit with a pan." Peter announced.

"I'll avoid that house." Walter claimed and turned back to the others. "It will be fun."

"I agree, it could be fun." Astrid smiled.

Olivia and Broyles both looked like they'd rather eat woodchips than go caroling. Peter really couldn't picture either of them going up to random houses and bursting into song. He could see both of them having a very hard time trying to even plaster smiles on their faces. It was going to be interesting.

Giving into their fate, they allowed Walter to map their route for the night and followed him outside. He insisted that they wouldn't go far and that there was no need to drive, especially since it was a warm night. They all silently agreed to just follow his lead and watched him go to the first house and burst into song. The residence didn't look too impressed but let it happen anyway. They then all took turns going from house to house. Astrid had no problem going up to each house while the older agents were reluctant but eventually gave in as well and didn't do too bad a job. When they were done, they all met up into their group again and headed back to the house.

"I should get going." Broyles stated after a few minutes, looking slightly embarrassed but not as much as he had when they first started singing.

"I should do the same actually." Astrid agreed.

Walter frowned lightly but walked them both out, leaving Peter and Olivia alone.

"Tessa left." Peter announced a few minutes later when the silence had started to become deafening. "I made sure that she got on the plane and didn't get off it."

"Do you think that you helped her?" Olivia asked, truly interested this time.

"Well I helped as much as I could with getting her divorce papers, but it's ultimately up to her to follow through." Peter sighed. "I'm sorry that having her around worried you."

"No, I'm sorry Peter. I shouldn't have let it bother me. I know that she's an old friend of yours and that you're smart enough not to get sucked back into that world. I should have trusted you more." Olivia shook her head.

"It's okay." Peter insisted. "Look let's just forget about it and enjoy the next seventeen days of the holiday?"

"That sounds good to me." Olivia smiled at him.

"Good because the next seventeen days are packed with more fun." Peter raised an eyebrow and chuckled lightly before walking away.

* * *

No more Tessa


	9. Gingerbread houses

Well it's the shortest chapter so far, but it's posted before the sun went down so that's an accomplishment :)

* * *

Nina Sharp shifted a bit in her seat, not really sure how she had let Walter talk her into joining them at the Bishop house. All she knew is that Walter had been bugging her to join them in their holiday fun. He had insisted that she would have a blast and that the more people to share the holiday's with the better. It didn't help that Nina had no family to spend the holidays with. Maybe it was because she was feeling lonely or nostalgic, whatever it was, and she had eventually agreed to meet up with them for the next activity that Walter had planned.

"Today we'll be staying inside." Walter started off, coming out of the kitchen where he had been spending most of his time that morning.

All of them had been band from the room in question and herded into the living room where they had all sat in waiting, a bit nervous about what Walter had planned. The only one not concerned was Peter but that was because he did this activities with his father every year and was used to the daily events.

"We're going to have a competition of sorts." Walter continued. "Today is gingerbread house building. All of the items needed are in the kitchen. We'll each build a house and then we'll judge the others creations at the end."

Nina smiled at the idea and saw that she wasn't the only one. The others seemed to be much more relaxed with the idea as well. When Walter instructed them to, they all filed into the kitchen and took seats in front of large chunks of gingerbread that Walter had made the night before. It all smelled amazing and looked delicious.

"Everyone can start in 3…2…1…go." Walter announced.

Nina and Olivia both grabbed thick white frosting while Peter and Astrid went for red and Walter picked a florescent orange. They spent a decent amount of time gluing their pieces together before they all started reaching for the multicolored candies. Dots, gumdrops, sprinkles, licorice, cinnamon drops and tootsie rolls. Each of them decorated their houses in ways that made sense to everyone or only to themselves. It was fun to say the least and rather sticky with all the candy and frosting that was being used.

Walter's gingerbread house resembled something that you'd see painted in a Picasso picture. It was many different colors and had candy placed around it at odd angles and seemingly random areas. Peter's looked almost exactly like a house should except for the bizarre coloring and the strips of licorice that were working as a door. Broyles house was surprisingly festive with gumdrops and dots placed around it like Christmas lights. Olivia had stuck to mostly the plain decorations and had a house that looked more like a high security prison while Nina's was colorful enough that it was almost blinding.

Each of them would stop for a short amount of time and would look to see what the others had done to their houses. A few of them would look at the others houses and get ideas from them before trying to duplicate what the other had done, until eventually all of the candy had been used and there was nothing left to do but wait for the others to finish.

"They all look great." Walter said when they were all done. "Let's take turns and show the others what we've done."

The others agreed and one by one their turned their houses around. Walter's ended up being an actual replicate of a Picasso painting, Peter's looked like a log cabin, Broyles looked like a house decorated for a lights competition, Olivia literally made a prison and Nina's house came out looking like the basic decorated home. They took in what the others had done and voted on the one that they liked the most, leaving Broyles the winner.

"Time for lunch!" Walter then exclaimed and started pulling out stuff to make sandwiches with.

Everyone made their lunch and started to filter into the living room to eat since there was no room in the kitchen due to their creations. Olivia was about to leave the kitchen along with the others when Peter's hand wrapped around her wrist, keeping her in place. She looked at Peter who had a look in his eyes that kept her in place.

"I want to talk to you." Peter stated when she gave him a curious look.

The others filtered out of the room and it wasn't until they could be heard talking in the living room that Peter walked Olivia out of the room and to the back room.

"What's up Peter?" Olivia asked.

"I wanted to talk to you about my past." Peter said, still holding her wrist. "I want you to know that I have too much here to give up in order to go back to that life. Even if I wanted to go back to my old life, there is no way that I could leave Walter…There's no way that I could leave you." Peter explained.

"Peter…" Olivia trailed off. "I know that you won't go back to that lifestyle. I just…I don't know."

"You didn't like Tessa being around." Peter supplied for her.

"I didn't like Tessa being around." She agreed.

"Well you don't have to worry. She's gone back home now." Peter promised.

"I know." Olivia said and nearly gasped when his hand slid down to clasp hers.

"I care about you Olivia." Peter admitted. "I'm not going to just up and leave you for my old life."

Olivia didn't know what to say about that and gave him a small smile.

"I'm glad that you're here Peter." Olivia announced and squeezed his hand affectionately.

"I am too." Peter smiled.

He was about to say something else when Walter called out for them to join the others in the living room. Peter gave Olivia's hand a squeeze and then let go. They shared another smile and then headed into the living room with a better understanding of where they both stood in their growing relationship.


	10. Grateful letters

Honestly, not a huge fan of this chapter.

* * *

Everyone gathered at the house again only to find a full lunch cooked and many scraps of paper, clipboards, and half a dozen different colored pens on the coffee table in the living room. They each grabbed something to eat and then converged into the living area and waited for Walter to explain to them what they were supposed to do that day.

"Today we're going to spread out around the house with some paper, a clipboard and pens. We'll each take about an hour to write letters to everyone else here stating what we are grateful for that person for. It can be that we're grateful for their smile or for their jokes; it is up to all of you on what you write. You can write together if you want, but I find it easier to write about others when they are not around. Once again, that is your choice. Once the hour is over, we'll hand our letters to the others. We don't need to share, it's for you personally. So if everyone would grab some paper and a pen, we'll spread out and get started." Walter explained.

Everyone did as he instructed and they spread out through the rooms. Walter stayed in the living room, Broyles went into the office, Nina into the kitchen, Astrid headed into the dining room while both Olivia and Peter headed upstairs, Olivia on the landing and Peter up against his bedroom door.

Olivia placed the first piece of paper against her clipboard and wrote 'Walter' across the top in capital letters. She tapped the end of her pen against the clipboard a few times and then started to write. Olivia had just finished with writing about Walter and was moving onto Astrid when she felt like she was being watched. Looking up, she saw Peter observing her from his spot, but he looked away as soon as he knew that he was caught staring. Olivia smiled lightly and kept writing.

It wasn't until she felt him watching her again that she got up and made her way over to where he was sitting. She sat down next to him and bumped his shoulder. He looked at her and gave her a small smile.

"You were staring at me." Olivia needlessly stated.

"I was just thinking of what to write." Peter half shrugged.

"I've only gotten Walter and Astrid done." Olivia admitted.

"I wrote for Broyles and Nina so far." Peter stated.

Olivia scrunched up her brow momentarily. "You found them the easiest to write for?"

"No, I figured I'd get the hardest two out of the way first." Peter pointed out.

Olivia couldn't argue that point and leaned back against the door with him and pulled her paper closer to her so that she could keep writing. Peter watched her for a few minutes and then continued as well. Olivia had just started writing a letter for Broyles when she felt the faintest of touches on her arm. Glancing down, she saw Peter's hand resting just a fraction away from her. It wasn't until she looked away again that he touched her arm again.

Peter was watching her out of the corner of his eye to see how she'd react to the touch and felt his heart leap when a small smile graced her face. Giving up any pretense, he gently started to run the knuckles of his right hand up and down her left arm, both of them enjoying the touch while they continued to write.

"I have no idea what to write for Broyles." Olivia admitted quietly.

Peter chuckled lightly at her. "He's your boss, I'm sure you can think of something."

"Well yeah, I mean I'm grateful that he gave me my job, but other than that…" She shrugged and let her fingers trail the inside of Peter's arm.

"I'm sure you'll come up with something." Peter said and heard a tiny gasp escape her when he twined their fingers together. "What did you write for me?"

"I haven't written one for you yet." Olivia admitted and leaned her shoulder against him. "Don't worry though, you'll be able to read it later."

Peter grinned and got back to work, loving the feel of her hand in his. They all worked diligently until Walter said that time was up and that they should exchange the letters that they had written but not read them there, to save them until later. Everyone then said their goodbyes and headed to their own homes. Once Olivia was in her apartment, she put the letters on the table, pushing the others to the side so that she could read Peter's first. It was the one that interested her the most. Opening it, she began to read.

Olivia

There are a lot of things that I'm grateful to you for. I'm grateful that you got me out of Iraq and the situation that I had found myself in. I'm grateful that you helped me to reconnect with my father however reluctant I had been at first. You've given me a family again, something that I had been missing for way too long. I'm grateful that we work together; that we're friends and most importantly, that you're in my life. I can't even imagine what my life would be like if you hadn't have found me and dragged me back to the United States. I'm also grateful that no matter what I do, or how stupid I am, you're still there at the end of the day. You've become something that I haven't really had in my life, stability. And for that, I'm grateful each and every day.

-Peter

Olivia felt a smile spread across her face and folded the letter back up before she turned to the others and gently pried them open, wondering what Peter thought of the one she had written for him. She needn't have worried though, Peter having gone into his bedroom to read the letters, doing the same as Olivia and opening the one from her first. It was similar to what he had written and made a grin form on his face.

Peter

Believe it or not, I'm grateful for you being such a pain from time to time. You help me stay grounded in a way that only you can. I'm grateful that you came back to the United States even if I had to blackmail you. I'm grateful for everyday that you're here in my life. I don't know where I'd be if you hadn't come back to the United States and ended up in my life.

-Olivia

He folded the letter up and placed it into his bedside table before he turned to the others and opened them one by one, with his mind still stuck on what she had said.

* * *

Thoughts?


	11. Backwards nightgross food combinations

It's December 11th and was almost 40 degrees in Maine today...*shrugs* hope you enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Astrid stood in the doorway that led into the kitchen, staring at a bowl of Jell-O that had clearly been altered by Walter. Where the Jell-O would normally be solid colors, this was multicolored and had what appeared to be candy canes stuck into each center. The very strong smell of peppermint was coming off of them, giving them an even more sickly sweet appearance.

"It's candy cane Jell-O." Peter said, coming into the room.

"Ugh, if there are ever two things that should not go together, that's it." Astrid grimaced.

"Are we expected to eat that?" Broyles asked, giving the dessert a disgusted look.

"Oh don't be such a downer agent Broyles, it's rather delicious." Walter literally tutted at the other man.

"I'll just have to take your word on that one Walter." Nina stated, giving the Jell-O a wide birth.

"I wanted you all here tonight because it's backwards dinner night. Peter and I have already cooked everything and I can assure you that the Jell-O is not the oddest dish that we have made." Walter explained.

All eyes then turned to Peter who lifted one shoulder in a shrug. "Everything it weird but it's nothing really disgusting or that will land you in the hospital," He promised.

"Well that's reassuring." Nina stated.

"Since its backwards dinner night, we'll start with the Jell-O, then two side dishes and then the main meal." Walter stated and gestured for them to all sit down around the table.

Once they were sat down, Walter gave each of them a bowl of the wiggly substance and looked at them all expectantly until they started to eat. Olivia looked at hers for a minute and then took a bite, surprised that Walter hadn't been lying and that it was fairly tolerable at least. The fact that the Jell-O was lime and the candy cane was a strong peppermint wasn't something that was that enjoyable, but she ate it anyway and got a beaming smile from the aging scientist who clearly enjoyed the dessert since he had eaten two bowls of it before Peter made him stop.

The next thing that Walter brought out proved that his plan was for everything to be Christmas related in some way. The large bowl that he carried was filled with steaming mashed potatoes that were mixed in with multicolored marshmallows. The extremely sweet smell that they gave off was enough to make most of them gag slightly. Peter chuckled at their expressions and started to eat his, signaling once again, that it wasn't going to kill any of them.

The second side dish wasn't much better and if anything, made all of them more nervous. The bright orange color of carrots was just barely visible through the thick brown coating that had been placed over them, a coating that proved quickly to be that of maple syrup. They each looked at the sugared vegetable and then at Walter as if asking 'really?', before they too started to eat it. By the time that they had finished, none of them were looking forward to what he could possibly have done to the main course. One thing that they all were thinking was that if it was any worse, they wouldn't be able to eat it.

Thankfully, the main course wasn't anything bad, but a large ham with brown sugar sauce coating it. It was a nice respite from the sugary foods they had just been subjected to and tasted great. Walter seemed thrilled with the fact that they had all eaten the meal that he and Peter had created and didn't seem fazed at all by the fact that most of it wasn't something that any of them would have chosen to eat on a normal day. Just having them all there seemed to be all that Walter needed to be in a perpetually great mood.

Walter made hot cocoa for everyone and ushered them into the living room where he and Peter had recently placed even more decorations. There was now holly; garland and what appeared to be several more bags of tinsel. It was starting to look like a Christmas store had exploded.

"I need everyone to be here around eight tomorrow morning so that we can move onto the next activity." Walter announced after taking a long sip of hot chocolate.

"Walter, we have to work tomorrow." Olivia pointed out.

"Yes, but we don't' currently have a case." Walter stated. "The ones that can be here early should arrive at eight and the ones that can't, can meet up with us later."

"And where do you want us to meet up?" Nina asked, tapping a finger against her mug.

"We'll all meet at the local Wal-Mart, in the parking lot." Walter said.

"In the cold Walter, really?" Astrid nearly whined and took a sip of her drink.

"Yes, it has to be outside in the cold, so dress warmly." Walter nodded.

"And what are we doing exactly?" Broyles asked and got a slightly annoyed look from Walter.

"When will you all stop asking that?" Walter huffed mildly. "Each and every day is different. You'll all be told what is going on that day when the day arrives. Show up at Wal-Mart tomorrow and you'll find out what is planned, not before."

"Alright, we'll find out tomorrow." Astrid softly replied.

"Yes." Walter nodded and then calculated it in his head. "We have fourteen more days until Christmas, just two weeks. I think you'll all enjoy the rest of what's planned."

"Any more weird foods?" Olivia asked tentatively.

Walter thought about it and then shook his head. "No, not really."

"Well that's a plus." Nina pointed out with a small smile.

The others silently agreed. They all finished their cocoa and once again started to disperse to their cars so that they could go home. The Bishop's said goodbye to each of them, Peter gently stroking Olivia's arm before she walked out.

"What is going on with you and agent Dunham?" Walter asked once everyone had left.

"What do you mean?" Peter asked, trying to keep the smile off his face.

"You and Olivia have been acting differently recently." Walter pointed out.

"I care about her." Peter admitted.

Walter gave him a warm smile and nod. "I know that son. I'm glad to see that something seems to finally be happening between the two of you."

"Finally?" Peter questioned.

Walter chuckled and walked out of the room leaving Peter to wonder how transparent his feelings for Olivia really were. Deciding that it didn't really matter now that he was doing something about it, he gave a light shrug and smiled.

* * *

What do you all want to see happen with Peter and Olivia?


	12. Bell ringing and snowball fights

And...Here's another chapter :) Thank you for the suggestions and thanks to **A girl like you **and **Oranfly **for the help with this chapter.

* * *

Olivia pulled her black SUV into the local Wal-Mart parking lot and scanned the area until her eyes settled onto Peter and Walter who were both bundled up and wearing bright red and white Santa hats. They waved her over when she got out of the car and Peter handed her a hat to wear as well.

"What are we doing Walter?" Olivia asked.

She really didn't need to though since both men were hold large brass bells and were standing next to a Salvation Army collection canister painted bright red. It was the same type of collection tin that she saw every year when she went Christmas shopping, they were going to be bell ringers for the day.

"We're ringing bells for the Salvation Army in hopes of getting money that can go towards paying for Christmas gifts for children." Walter announced.

"He plans on being here all day." Peter pointed out after his father had handed Olivia a bell.

"That's okay." Olivia smiled. "I caught up on my paperwork last night so that I could be here without conflict."

"That's a good thing since Walter really gets into this every year. It's for a great cause though so I don't complain much. It does get awful cold after a while though so I'm hoping that you wore something that will keep you warm for at least a few hours." Peter said.

"I'll be fine." Olivia insisted and slipped the hat onto her head before looking at the bell Walter had handed her. "When do we start?"

"This particular store opens at nine so we have about an hour to get prepared." Walter announced.

"It takes an hour to set up the donation bucket?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.

"No that takes about five minutes. Walter's definition of preparing is heading over to one of the restaurants and having breakfast. The others have already called and said that they won't be around until later today, so it's just the three of us." Peter said and gestured for Olivia to go ahead of him once Walter started to walk towards a local Denny's.

Olivia walked in front of Peter and almost sighed in content when she felt his hand brush against her lower back. They made their way to a table and got comfortable, conversing in small talk before they made their orders and ate in silence.

"So all that we do today really is ring the bells, greet people, and take donations. At the end of the day we'll bring the money to the Salvation army and they'll add it into what they've made with other bell ringers." Walter explained after they were done eating. "It can be a bit boring, but it's all for the better."

"It all sounds fine to me Walter." Olivia truthfully answered.

Though she didn't tend to get a lot of time to do things other than work, when she did get some free time it was best spent doing something useful and helpful than sitting around and doing nothing. Plus she'd much rather spend her Wednesday with the Bishop's than in her empty apartment.

Walter beamed at her and led them out of the restaurant again. They had been ringing the bells for a few hours when the others arrived, each of them bundled up for the cold weather and grabbing the bells that were handed to them while slipping the felt hats onto their heads and getting to work. It was boring like Walter had said, but the feeling of knowing that they were going to be helping the less fortunate kept them going at it for hours until the sun started to set and it was getting too cold to stay outside for much longer.

It was when they were getting ready to leave that the first snowball was thrown, one that hit Astrid in the back. She turned to see who had done it only to find Walter looking off in the distance and acting like he'd done nothing. She then grabbed up a bunch of snow and threw one back, igniting a snowball fight that surprisingly even got Broyles and Nina into the action. It only took a matter of minutes before everyone was covered in snow and half frozen. A few of the frozen snowballs had connected with faces and slid down jackets.

Olivia had just thrown one at Walter when she felt another connect with the back of her head. She looked over and saw Peter getting another one ready, but didn't give him time to throw it before she had tossed one into his face. Spluttering a bit he an incredulous look and lunged at her, his hands going around her waist just as she went to step back, resulting in them tumbling onto the ground, Peter on top of Olivia.

The air between the two of them seemed to heat up immediately when their eyes locked, Peter pushing some of Olivia's hair behind her ear.

"Peter…" Olivia said quietly.

Peter let his eyes flicker down to her lips and then back up to her eyes while Olivia's hands went to his shoulders. They weren't sure who moved first but the next thing that they knew, they were both leaning in. Peter's forehead rested against Olivia's, their noses brushing and their breath mingling, just centimeters away when a large ball of ice smashed against the tree next to them, making them spring apart quickly and remember where they were. Thankfully the others hadn't seemed to notice what had almost happened, too engrossed in their battle.

"Liv…" Peter went to say but stopped.

"I uh…I should get home." Olivia said and wet her lips unconsciously, oblivious to what it did to Peter.

"Oh, um…Okay, I'll ah, I'll see you tomorrow then." Peter stammered.

Olivia gave him a nod and then went over to the others, telling them that she was going home and would see them in the morning. Everyone then agreed to do the same and get warm. Olivia had barely gotten to her car when she felt someone behind her, looking over her shoulder it was to see Broyles who had an odd look on his face.

"What is it?" Olivia asked.

Broyles shook his head lightly and gave a half grin. "Next time you almost kiss your partner, make it a bit more private." He lightly teased and walked away.

Olivia stared after him appalled that he had seen the interaction between her and Peter, her cheeks warming at the thought. She took a deep breath and, deciding that worse things could happen, got in her car and headed home.


	13. Chocolate and understanding

Olivia lay on her side, the blanket pulled up above her shoulder and her eyes focused on the glare of her digital clock which read 5:35 am. Groaning, she rolled onto her side and rubbed a hand over her eyes. She hadn't been able to sleep well the night before, her mind going over the almost kiss so often that it was all she could think of. All she had to have done was leaned forward a bit and their lips would have connected, but instead she had held back a bit and she didn't understand why. She had wanted Peter for so long now that knowing her wanted her as well was something that should have made her extremely happy, but instead it made her question why. Why was he now recognizing her? Just a few days ago he had seemed perfectly happy to have Tessa back in his life for a short amount of time, and then once she had left it was like he had opened his eyes and realized that Olivia was right in front of him.

Being caught by her boss hadn't helped matters at all either. He had dutifully pointed out that Peter was her partner. Partner's should not date, she knew that all too well with the fiasco of John. She had vowed to herself after all of that that she'd never do it again, never fall for her partner. Yet just a few months after John had died, she had found herself gravitating towards Peter like he was a giant magnet.

Giving up on sleep, she got out of bed and got dressed into her running gear and headed out into the cold morning. As her feet pounded against the concrete, she got lost in her mind and didn't realize where her traitorous feet were taking her until she found herself standing outside of the Bishop's house. The lights were on and she could see movement from inside, but wasn't sure if she should go up to the door or not. Her dilemma was fixed for her just a minute later when the door opened and Peter walked out onto the top step.

"Olivia, what are you doing here?" He asked kindly and walked down to meet her on the sidewalk.

"I'm not really sure." She admitted. "I went for a run and ended up here."

"Well do you want to come in? It's freezing out here." Peter offered and gestured to the house.

Having nothing better to do, she walked by him and into the warmth that the house provided. The first thing she noticed was that the house smelled amazing with the aroma of melting chocolate, caramel, pecans, almonds, peanuts and cherries. It quickly became obvious to her that the activity that they were doing that day was one that all of them could very easily enjoy; they were making chocolates.

"It smells great in here." Olivia commented.

"Walter couldn't wait until later." Peter groaned. "There is still plenty for everyone else to do, but chocolate is almost as important to Walter as acid."

"Good to know." Olivia gave a weak smile.

Peter picked up on it and gave her a confused look. "What's wrong?"

Instead of answering him, she took his hand and led him from the room and into the entrance of the house.

"Why did you almost kiss me last night?" She asked.

Peter gave her a slightly incredulous look and answered. "Because I wanted to, why?"

"Well it's just…We've been friends for a while now and it's like all of a sudden you want more." Olivia explained.

"I do want more." Peter admitted and saw her eyes widen a bit. "It's not like I just woke up one day and said, hey why not? It just took me a bit longer than it should have."

"And why did it take you longer Peter?" Olivia softly asked.

"I don't know." He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. "I have no idea why."

"Does this have anything to do with Tessa's visit?" Olivia ventured to ask.

Peter gave her a long look before answering. "Seeing the way you reacted when she was around…It made me see that I'm not alone in wanting more. So yes, in a way her visit helped."

"Okay." Olivia had just enough time to say before Walter walked into the room wearing just a pair of boxers, bunny slippers and a chocolate covered apron.

"Agent Dunham, do you want to help make some chocolate before the others arrive?" Walter asked while stirring a large bowl of the brown substance.

"Sure why not?" Olivia said and followed Walter into the kitchen and away from her conversation with Peter.

The others arrived a few hours later, all of them looking relieved and happy to be doing something that was both fun and tasty. It was a mess to do, but the molds helped a lot and the smells were amazing. They each tasted their creations and lightly judged what the others had done until there was nothing left to make. After the chocolate had cooled, they wrapped each piece in plastic and tied them off with ribbon so that they would stay good for a while. They then divided up their work between everyone so that they each got some to bring home.

Once again everyone started to clear out, heading back to their own homes or back to work since it was still early afternoon when they had finished. Olivia hung back, waiting for everyone to leave. Her mind once again busy with what had been said and what the meaning could be. Peter wanted her, she knew that now. And she wanted him, even if it meant that a woman from his past had to give him a reality slap and make him see what was in front of him. She could accept that it take it as it was.

"Peter." Olivia said when Walter walked Nina out, leaving just the two of them in the house.

"Yes?" He asked.

Olivia took a step closer to him and took a deep breath before she quickly popped up onto her toes and kissed him. She ended the kiss quickly, not giving him time to respond, and headed out the door and to her car.


	14. Snowmen and snowman soup

A/N: My heart and my thoughts go out to those who lost their lives and their loved ones today in the school shooting in Connecticut. So many young lives lost in such a horrific way. :(

* * *

Peter's heart started to race a bit the first second that he saw Olivia the next day. The plans for that day were rather mundane, but would take a bi to time to do, and as far as he was aware, Walter wanted to partner everyone up again since there were six of them. He had a strong feeling who he was going to get partnered with. His father wasn't subtle in the least.

"They should be here soon." Walter announced, walking by Peter with a large plastic bag.

The bag was filled with scarves, hats, buttons and carrots; all the things needed for making a great snowman. Walter had declared a few years back that winter wasn't winter without at least one snowman built. The Bishop's had been in yet another diner with Walter insisting on trying something that he had forgotten the taste of when he had made snowman building a tradition. Peter hadn't gone against his father's wants, in fact he had agreed to almost everything that Walter had set up for each day, only vetoing a few when it was needed. He had to talk his father out of brown Betty day a few times.

"Are you sure that they're going to want to build snowmen?" Peter asked lightly and took the bag from his father's hands so that Walter could get dressed.

"Of course, who doesn't like a good snowman?" Walter said almost patronizingly.

"Well they are all adults." Peter pointed out but left it at that.

Once the group showed up, they piled into the station wagon and made their way to a spot that Walter had deemed the best snowman building spot of the year. It was a small wooded area that had a good couple feet of sticky snow for their use. Sure enough, when the older man partnered them up, Peter and Olivia ended up together. The two of them shared a small look and started to get to work on their snow creation.

"How big you do you want the base?" Peter asked once they started to roll a ball of snow that quickly started to become larger.

"It should be at least large enough that the other parts won't make it sink or collapse." Olivia commented.

They continued to roll the base of the snowman until the snowball had to weigh at least fifty pounds, and then started on the second part. While the others talked among themselves, Peter and Olivia both stayed quiet, focusing on their work and on anything but communication and looking at each other. It wasn't that either was embarrassed about the short kiss, since they had both wanted it, but that they were both unsure of what to do now, where to bring their relationship. So instead they just worked in silence until they had a large snowman built that was about four feet in diameter and stood a good six feet tall, just tall enough to not be too tall for Peter to reach the top of its head.

They started to smooth out the sides, their hands accidentally brushing a few times before quickly pulling away as if burnt, until the snowman had smooth, round sides, and was ready for decorations.

Peter grabbed out a few different buttons and held them up for Olivia to look at before they both decided on blue buttons for eyes and brown ones to go down its front like shirt buttons. They then wrapped a blue and green plaid scarf around its neck, put a cheap felt hat on its head and a carrot in its face as a nose.

"He looks…Very bored," Peter commented.

He then grabbed a handful of other buttons and placed them on the snowman's face to create a slightly lopsided smile that made Olivia grin to herself and share another look with Peter.

"He needs a name." Olivia claimed.

Peter stepped back so that he could look at their creation, his arms crossing over his chest and his left hand going up to rest under his chin.

"Steve?" Peter asked.

"Steve the snowman?" Olivia scrunched up her nose.

"Okay you come up with one better." Peter lightly challenged.

"Okay." Olivia said and thought about it for a minute. "George?"

"George?" Peter lightly laughed. "Alright, George the snowman."

Olivia nodded and grabbed a stick so that she could carefully write 'George' onto the front of the snowman and stepped back to look at it.

"There, now he's done." She declared and walked over to where Peter was standing and gently leaned against him.

He hooked a finger into a belt loop and pulled her a bit closer to him. They stayed like that for a while, getting a warm look from Walter while seemingly being ignored by the others who were finishing up their snowmen and also going about naming them. By the time that they were all done, they had George, Randy and Ned. They varied in size and shape and all had different colors decorating them but all looked great. When they were done, Walter declared that it was time to go back to the house to have something that he referred to as snowman soup.

It didn't take long to figure out just what that was once they got back to the house and he started putting chunks of chocolate, a couple pieces of Christmas candy and spoonful's of cocoa powder into cups. He then poured hot water into each mug and handed them around while also handing them peppermint candy canes.

"You stir the cocoa with the candy canes and they melt into the drink to make it taste like peppermint chocolate." He said and started to stir his.

They did as he instructed and tentatively took a sip of their drinks. Some of them cringed at the very strong and sweet taste, while the others didn't seem to mind it as much. Olivia was one of them that cringe, getting a chuckle from Peter who was drinking his like it was nothing, which to him might not be. He lived with Walter after all.

"You don't like it?" Peter asked.

"It's very sweet." Olivia stated and put her mug down. "I'd rather not make myself sick."

"Good idea." Peter smiled.

Peter then put his own cup down and grasped Olivia's hand to lead her out of the room and to the backroom that they used to store firewood. He then gently pushed her up against a wall, his hands going to her sides. Their eyes locked and he slowly leaned in, giving her time to pull away if she wanted to, but instead she closed the last of the distance and welcomed his lips on hers.

The kiss was gentle but firmer than the first one, both of them responding to the other, their lips brushing together in a way that made them both lose their breath. Peter leaned further into Olivia, deepening the kiss a bit but not too much. When they pulled apart, it was for the need of air.

"Do you think we should go back before they notice us gone?" Peter asked breathlessly, his forehead resting against hers.

"I think they know." She whispered on his lips and gave him another, quicker, kiss.

"Walter knows." Peter whispered back.

"So does Broyles." Olivia admitted.

"Good." Peter said and pulled Olivia into another kiss.

* * *

I wasn't going to put in another kiss yet, but needed something fuzzy and cute.


	15. Cookies

No one seemed at all surprised when Peter and Olivia opted to walk together, hand in hand, the next day. In fact they all gave the new couple a small look and a smile before turning back to what they were doing.

They had all spent the morning baking cookies of many different types, making as many as they could before they ran out of ingredients and had to finally call it good. They had then put every type of cookies in different colored boxes and labeled them before the group piled into the car and made the drive to a local orphanage. Walter had made it a Bishop family tradition a year after getting out of St. Claire's. Each year they would bake as many cookies as they could and would bring them to the orphanage for the children and the staff to enjoy.

The group had just entered the orphanage and was greeted by the head of staff that recognized the Bishop's. He had been overly joyed to see that they had brought four more people into the mix. He had smiled warmly at them all and had agreed to walk them around from room to room so that they could drop off cookies and meet the children in the facility.

"The children are always wonderful, though it's sad that they are here." Walter said when they stopped outside of the first room.

Everyone walked in, but Olivia hesitated to enter, her hand still clutched in Peter's who looked at her with a bit of concern.

"They are really nice, Liv. They'll probably ask a few questions but that's all." Peter promised.

"That's not the problem Peter." Olivia shook her head.

"What is it?" He asked and brushed a hand softly down her cheek.

"Peter…" Olivia trailed off and took a deep breath. "I was fourteen when my mom died. If it hadn't been for my aunt taking us in, we would have ended up like these children. We'd have been waiting for a family, or in a lot of cases, families, to take us and give us a family again. We'd have people come once a year or so to remind us that we're important and special, but that would be it."

"Liv, these children know that they are important, even if they haven't found families yet. The facility makes sure that they know that they have people in their lives that care about them. Coming here at Christmas is just another way to let them know that they are special and that people like us care about them and about what is going on in their lives. We bring cookies, yes, but we also sit down with them and talk to them about what is going on in their lives." Peter explained and handed her a cookie. "Go on in, find a kid that looks like they could use a talk, see for yourself how well taken care of the children here are."

Olivia took the cookie and walked into the room to find it full of decorations and children, most of which were talking to the adults who had arrived while others were off playing together or on their own. It didn't take her long to find a child that looked like they could at least use a warm hug.

A little girl no older than six was huddled in a corner with a teddy bear clutched to her chest, her eyes following everyone around the room. Her eyes fell onto Olivia and she buried her head in the back of her teddy bear until Olivia walked over to her and she peeked an eye around her stuffed animal.

"Hi there, my name is Olivia, what's your name?" Olivia asked gently.

The little girl looked at her uncertainly and answered. "Amanda."

"Well it's very nice to meet you Amanda." Olivia smiled at her.

"It's nice to meet you too." The girl answered and lowered her teddy bear a little bit to accept the cookie Olivia handed her.

Olivia found it very easy to talk to the child, the two of them discussing what it was like to live in the orphanage, and the foster homes that Amanda had gone to. Olivia learned that Amanda's parents had been killed in a car accident a year ago and that it was hard on the little girl to adjust to the way her life was now. She also learned that Amanda's aunt was trying to get custody of her and was stuck in court proceedings until a decision could be made. The agent couldn't help but hope that custody would be granted so that Amanda could live with a family member again, the same way that Olivia and her sister Rachel had once both of their parents had died.

Before she knew it, the others were getting ready to move onto another room and gestured for Olivia to join them. She said her goodbyes to Amanda and to a few other children who waved at her on her way out of the room where she joined hands with Peter again.

"They are wonderful children." Olivia stated and leaned against Peter. "I just wish that none of them had to be here."

"We all wish that sweetheart." Peter rubbed a thumb against her hand. "They'll all have families someday, whether those families include parents or children of their own. We can't dwell on what is going on in their lives now, we can just make them as happy as we can and hope that the future holds well for them. One of the best things about bringing cookies every year is seeing new children. That sounds awful, I know, but by seeing new children, we're not seeing the ones that we saw the year before. We can believe that they have gone to wonderful homes. In this case, new faces are good in their own way."

"I can understand that." Olivia said and grabbed a few more cookies from the box.

By the time that they had gone to every room, the cookies were gone and they were all ready to head back. Though it was nice to see the children and to give them a treat, it was also emotionally draining and left them all wanting to go home and curl up with a good movie or book, or for those with children of their own, to call them and just talk.

"Are you going to call Ella?" Peter asked while they walked out of the facility.

"I don't know." Olivia shrugged. "She's my niece and I know that she has a family and everything. I just wish that there was more that could be done for these children. I wish that they could all have families at least for the holidays."

"Sadly there is only just so much we can do." Peter remarked and gave her a hug.

"I know." Olivia sighed and followed him to the car.


	16. Gift wrap

The store was crowded when the group walked. There were piles upon piles of unwrapped gifts, wrapping paper, tags, bows and ribbons. There were many things of different colored tape, markers and pens on tables ready to be used, and just as many people busily wrapping gifts at their designated tables. They made their way over to an empty table where they were greeted by a cheerful woman who brought over the needed supplies and a few bags of toys for them to wrap. She beamed at them all and wished them a happy holiday in a sickly sweet voice before she vanished into the crowd of gifts wrappers.

"Is it always this crowded?" Astrid asked and grabbed a toy truck to wrap.

"It normally is, yes." Walter nodded and also started to wrap a gift.

"A lot of people come out to either this store or others close by. Every year they have a ton of donated toys and clothing for the children around these areas that might not have a Christmas without them." Peter explained while wrapping a Barbie doll. "It's like the cookies that we brought to the kids yesterday, it makes everyone feel happy and like they are making some kind of difference in other people's lives."

"That's very sweet." Astrid smiled. "It's nice to know that there are people in the world that care about others, especially at this time of year when it's a bit harder to get by, what with heating costs and the cost of Christmas and other holiday's."

"What happens with the toys when they are wrapped?" Broyles asked. "Do they get separated out and sent to different towns or do they randomly get handed out at churches or similar establishments?"

"There is this really big list of families that are looking for help. They put down the gender and ages of their children that way the families get gender and age appropriate toys for their children." Peter stated. "That is why if you look, our table has toys that are for children around five to eight years old. We also have different colored wrapping paper than other tables. It makes it easier for the people delivering the toys to know which ones should go where."

"That makes sense; you wouldn't want items for teenagers going to little children and vice versa." Nina nodded while wrapping a dinosaur.

"Yeah, I think that happened a few years, that's why they have the different colored wrapping paper now." Peter said and picked up a Lego set.

"Do any of the volunteers get to see the children unwrap their gifts to see if they like them?" Olivia asked.

"No, they are all delivered days before Christmas so that they can be from Santa." Walter shook his head. "You just have to hope that they liked them and go from there."

"Well at least we know that they will all be getting something for the holiday." Olivia smiled.

The group then lapsed into silence and kept their focus on getting their pile of gifts wrapped. Once they were done, they found that they were quickly given another batch along with different wrapping paper. They continued to work for most of the day until the volunteers had wrapped everything that there was to wrap. The volunteers then helped to sort the toys into the age groups and into each gender so that they could be put into boxes and brought to the truck. The toys would then be brought to the families on the list the next day so that the parents and guardians could have them ready to go for Christmas day.

"I hope that all of the children like what they get." Walter said when they made their way back to the car.

"I'm sure they will Walter." Peter lightly promised and twined his fingers through Olivia's.

"I think that the kids will just be happy to have a gift from Santa to be honest." Astrid smiled. "I remember one year my ultimate present was a new shiny red bike. I still remember how thrilled I was when I woke up on Christmas day and there it was under the tree with a silver bow on it."

"I remember one of my favorite gifts being the game 'Clue'. I used to play that all the time." Walter said a bit nostalgic.

"I had a red wagon when I was a kid that I used to pull around all the time. It was one of my favorite presents." Broyles piped up.

"I had an easy bake oven that was amazing." Nina grinned happily. "What about you Olivia?"

"I didn't really have a Christmas for the most part to be honest." Olivia shrugged. "My step-father wasn't the best, but my mom did what she could. I do remember one year I got a new pair of ice skates. I'd be on the ice all day long when I was allowed to. I taught myself how to skate in a rink near where we lived."

"So that's who you were able to literally skate rings around Walter, Astrid and I when we went ice skating." Peter smiled.

Olivia shrugged again. "Being at the ice rink, meant that I wasn't home with my step-father. It was a type of escape from it all, just go there and relax while having fun as well."

"It must have been nice in a way, to move to Boston." Astrid stated.

"It was a bit hard at first because of the temperature difference, but other than that it was nice." Olivia nodded and got into the car once they reached it.

"I think we all have favorite gifts every year." Peter pointed out. "Though some of them really stick with you,"

"Well you never told us what your favorite gift was." Olivia announced.

"Oh well that one is easy." Peter grinned. "One year I got this amazing sled. I'd be outside sledding from the moment I woke up until I had to go to bed."

"I remember that." Walter nodded. "Your mother would almost have to wrestle you into the house so that you would get something to eat."

"She was never too happy with that." Peter chuckled.

"You were a very stubborn child." Walter pointed out.

"I wonder where he got that from?" Nina teased and got a mock glare from Walter.

Everyone shared a small laugh and once again lapsed into silence, their thoughts on how the children would like the gifts and how they had helped to brighten another day.


	17. Snowman army

Can anyone else believe that next Tuesday is Christmas?

* * *

Broyles and Nina were unable to join the group the next day, having both been called away on important work matters. It didn't seem to faze Walter though who informed them that they would be creating their own festive desserts that day and that the more creative the better. He then told them about a few that he had made in the past, some of which included a ton of frosting, sprinkles and even LSD. Peter promised the two agents that drugs would not be in the mix this year.

"That's always a good thing." Astrid pointed out. "We wouldn't want to have to arrest anyone, not at this time of year at least."

"So we're just supposed to make anything?" Olivia asked.

She looked at the kitchen table in front of her which was covered in almost every type of candy and dessert topping possible.

"Yes, you make anything that you want." Walter nodded happily and started to select the candy he wanted to use.

Olivia looked at everything again and gave a small shrug before she reached for a few Christmas candies and frosting. Within a short time she had created a snow man by taking the round candies and gluing them together with the frosting. She used the frosting to make a face and then frosted a Hershey's kiss onto its head as a hat.

"Are you actually going to eat that?" Peter asked, pointing to the super sugary snowman that Olivia had set on the table.

"No, probably not." Olivia admitted and started on making a family for the snowman. "I don't like Christmas candy that much, it's too sweet."

"What about the type of Christmas candy that has chocolate on the inside?" Astrid asked, weaving pieces of licorice together in a braid.

"Those make me very glad that I don't have cavities." Olivia stated and put a snowwoman next to the man. "My mom used to eat them every year, but my sister and I both never liked them."

"Is there any Christmas candy that you like?" Walter asked, sounding a bit sad at the thought.

"I like chocolate and stuff like that, just not the super sweet stuff." Olivia shrugged a shoulder.

"Walter gets tins upon tins of the super sweet Christmas candy like ribbon candy and bonbons." Peter explained and pointed out one of the very large tins that Walter had on the kitchen counter.

"I like the fact that they last." Walter stated and placed a decorated cookie in front of him. "I tend to eat too much chocolate and these candies take longer to dissolve."

"I can vouch for that." Peter nodded. "I remember one year you ate through almost full pound of chocolate before you stopped."

"It was very good chocolate." Walter defended with a pout.

"It was, but that didn't mean you had to almost overdose on chocolate." Peter pointed out and placed a snow child with the family Olivia was building.

She looked at the child and then up at him and smiled her thanks. Olivia then placed another child onto the table.

Astrid watched the two of them building the family, a smile on her face. She was glad to see that the two of them were finally together. She had been waiting for them to realize how much they cared for the other for a while now and was glad to see them happy. Astrid then put down the gingerbread man she had decorated and started to help build the family. Walter joined them shortly after and the four of them used all the round candies to make what had once been a family of candy snowmen into an army. Each one was a different size; shape and color, making the table look like it was covered in a rounded rainbow.

"Now they look too good to eat." Walter almost pouted.

"Walter, we're not keeping them forever like those cookies you made years ago. We don't need another moldy piece of Christmas food hanging around the house." Peter sighed.

"Well we can't eat the little ones, they are just kids Peter." Walter pointed out.

Peter rolled his eyes at his father and looked at the two women who were sharing a look and shrugged.

"He's right you know Peter." Astrid smirked.

"Yeah you can't eat the children that would be cannibalistic and wrong." Olivia added.

Peter groaned and shook his head. "Seriously, you've got to be kidding."

"Not at all, cannibalism is a serious thing." Astrid said matter of fact and got a serious nod from Olivia.

"Fine." Peter huffed. "We'll keep them for now, happy?"

"Yes!" Walter cheered while Astrid nodded and a large smile spread across Olivia's face.

"The three of you can be impossible you know that right?" Peter asked them and shifted some of the snowmen together a bit.

"It's one of the reasons why you like and get along with us." Astrid pointed out and stood up to stretch.

"I suppose that's true." Peter agreed.

Everyone got up from their spots to stretch and walk around the room. Peter and Olivia had just stepped into the doorway when Walter cleared his throat to get their attention and then pointed above them. They looked up to find that a sprig of mistletoe was hung above their heads. They then looked at each other and at Walter.

"You have to kiss." Walter pointed out needlessly. "It is tradition after all."

Peter and Olivia looked at each other again briefly and then leaned into the other, their lips meeting in a soft and quick kiss before they pulled apart and glanced at Walter who was beaming at them.

"It was a bit too short, but I'll take it." He claimed and bustled out of the room happily.

"It is great to see the two of you together." Astrid announced with a smile of her own.

Olivia waited until Astrid left the room and then stepped back into Peter for another, longer kiss that left them both wanting more but pulling apart before they could get carried away.

"So how long do you think it will be before Walter starts eating the snowman army?" Olivia asked Peter, his arms around her.

"It's Walter; I'd give him until tonight." Peter claimed and kissed the top of her head.

They shared another kiss and then headed in search of the other two.


	18. Music challenge

I forgot to mention it in the last chapter (sorry) but the mistletoe idea was angellcakes23's suggestion.

* * *

The Bishop's living room was once again filled with the six people who had been brought into the holiday traditions. This time, however they were all to stay where they were while Walter pulled out what appeared to be at least half a dozen Christmas CD's for them to listen to. That day's tradition was to listen to short amounts of a song and guess what the song was. It sounded fairly easy and relaxing, so they all just sat back and waited for Walter to finish setting everything up.

"Everyone has the chance to guess what the song is, except for me since I'll know what it is when I play it." Walter explained. "It will be like that game jeopardy where you just raise your hand when you think you know what the song is, you'll then be able to make your guess. If you are correct then you get a point, if you're wrong then someone else can take a guess, but you have to wait until the next song plays to guess again. Does everyone understand?"

When they said that they understood, he put the first song in and let it play. The rhythm of the song gave it away instantly, and Astrid's hand went into the air so she could make her accurate guess of "Rudolph the red nosed reindeer." Walter smiled and put on the next song, waiting for the next hand to shoot in the air, Broyles this time, who guessed the song as "Frosty the snowman." It continued like that for a while before Walter started to pull out the more difficult songs for them to guess. Once "Hark the Harold", "silent night", and "holy night" where guessed, he pulled out another CD and put it in the player.

When the lyrics; "Veinticinco de Diciembre Fum Fum Fum Veinticinco de" played through the radio, they all glanced at each other in mild confusion before Nina correctly guessed it as the Spanish version of the song "Fum, fum, fum" which was originally a Catalan Christmas carol. The next one, Olivia guessed once the Czech lyrics "Nesem vám noviny poslouchejte, Z Betlemské Krajiny, pozor dejte. Slyšte je pilne a neomylne," played through the speakers. It was the Czech version of "come all ye shepherds" and was something that she had heard when she was younger.

"How do you all know these?" Walter huffed and looked at Peter who shrugged. "I'd expect you to know several different languages, but not the rest of you."

"Walter, I run a major cooperation, Astrid took linguistics and Olivia and Phillip are both federal agents who have more than likely run across other languages as well." Nina pointed out.

"Well then I'll have to keep putting songs on in hopes that eventually I'll find one that stumps you." Walter declared and pulled out even more CD's.

However after they had taken turns guessing the next songs as "Adam Lay Ybounden", "Angels from the Realms of Glory", "Angels We Have Heard on High", "Auld Lang Syne", "Away in a Manger", "Boar's Head Carol" and "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella", he started to become a bit frustrated with their knowledge of Christmas songs.

"Walter, we are all familiar with these songs." Olivia pointed out and leaned into the back of the couch where Peter's arm was resting.

"Olivia's right Walter." Peter said, his hand finding Olivia's shoulder. "How about you pick some songs that are older and less popular?"

"Excellent idea son!" Walter beamed and left the room in search of older CD's.

"We're going to be doing this all day aren't we?" Nina asked well naturedly.

"Oh yea, he gets like this every year." Peter nodded. "He wants us to know the songs but then gets frustrated when you know them all and guess correctly."

"So it's kind of a lose, lose situation?" Broyles asked.

"Yeah pretty much." Peter shrugged. "It keeps him busy though and he likes it, so that's always a plus."

"So you do this because it makes your father happy, how sweet." Astrid lightly teased.

Peter rolled his eyes at her and watched Walter walk back into the room with CD's that looked like they were older than him. Walter then put them in and started to play the music on them, not all of which was Christmas music. They guessed some as Mozart, Bach and Pavarotti before he switched it back to Christmas music and the lyrics "Ihr Kinderlein, kommet, o kommet doch all! Zur Krippe her kommet in Bethlehems Stall und seht, was in dieser hochheiligen Nacht der Vater im Himmel für Freude uns macht!" played through the speakers.

The others looked confused and said that they didn't know what the song was, while Peter and Olivia shared a small look before too declaring that they didn't know the song and didn't recognize the lyrics. Walter seemed happy that he'd found a song to stump them with. He then proceeded to play more music until he eventually, thankfully, ran out and called it good for that year.

They each got up and stretched while Walter once again made hot chocolate, something that most of them were now becoming tired of. When he was out of the room, Nina turned to Olivia and Peter with a knowing look.

"You both knew the name for the German Christmas song didn't you?" She asked and saw them share another small look.

"And if we did?" Peter asked with a smirk. "It got Walter to calm down a bit about us all knowing the songs."

"That's true, and I suppose what he doesn't know wont' hurt him." Nina nodded.

"The song was "Ihr Kinderlein kommet." Peter stated with a nod from Olivia.

"It means "oh come little children." Olivia translated.

"Well I'm glad that we're done for now." Broyles pointed out.

They could hear Walter in the kitchen and joined him in time for the mugs of hot chocolate to be handed out. The group drank in silence until Walter headed back into the living room and put more Christmas music on, just to listen to this time; he declared and started to heat more water. The rest of the night was spent relaxing in the others company, sharing tidbits about their past experiences with the holidays and what they were hoping this year would look like. When they had finished even more cocoa and cleaned their cups, they started to disperse, all of them promising to meet up again the next day, all of them used to it by now and secretly looking forward to the time spent together.


	19. Hide the Santa

A/N: Another day down, another chapter done.

* * *

Walter, Peter, Olivia and Astrid stood around the kitchen table, waiting for Nina and Broyles to return to the room. When they had all gotten there that morning, it was for Walter to tell them that they were essentially going to be playing hide and seek, using a Santa Clause ornament. They were to be divided into teams of two, each team would take a turn with hiding the ornament and then the other two teams would have to search through the house in order to find it. The team that found the ornament the most would win a prize at the end of the day.

The teams had been picked leaving Walter and Peter together and Olivia and Astrid together. The third team, Nina and Broyles had been picked to hide the ornament first and were currently doing so. The rules were simple, the ornament had to be hidden somewhere inside the house but couldn't be hidden anywhere that could potentially cause anyone to get hurt.

When they returned to the kitchen, the two other teams started to make their way through the house, going from room to room trying to find the object. It was eventually Peter and Walter who found it, having the advantage of knowing all of the best hiding spaces in the house. They then hid the Santa ornament, this time to be found by Olivia and Astrid.

"Where do you think we should hide it?" Astrid asked the other woman as they started to make their way through the house.

The ornament had already been hidden in the washing machine and in an upstairs cupboard which still left a large amount of house to hide it in.

"I think that the Bishop's know every place that we could possibly hide it so I'm not sure." Olivia admitted while holding the plastic object.

"I don't mean to be nosey, but how are things going with Peter?" Astrid asked a few minutes later. "I know that this is all still new and I'm just curious as to how things are."

"Everything is fine." Olivia stated. "We haven't really done anything like gone out for a date."

"I'm sure that things will change after the holidays." Astrid said and pointed to a spot in one of the closets.

They surveyed it for a minute before deeming it unfit and too open.

"I think so too, it was just a bit fast." Olivia admitted. "I've wanted to be with Peter for a while but it was like he didn't even know I existed as more than a friend until suddenly he wanted more as well. I'm just hoping that we didn't jump into anything too quickly."

"I don't think you have." Astrid claimed. "I've seen the way that he's been looking at you for a while now and it was actually a surprise to both Walter and I that you hadn't gotten together before now to be honest."

That made Olivia stop short and turn to face the other woman with a look of surprise and mild shock.

"What do you mean?" Olivia questioned.

"What I mean." Astrid said. "Is that the two of you have been dropping hints to each other, all of which have gone unnoticed for a while now. Walter and I were actually debating on starting a pool to see when you two would finally get together, but then you finally did."

Olivia didn't know what to say to that, so she stayed silent. They finally found a place to hide the Santa and headed back to the kitchen so the others could search for it. The game continued until midafternoon when they all started to become bored with it, including Walter. Instead they opted on crowding around the television to watch "How the Grinch stole Christmas" and eat some of the candy that the Bishop's had stored around the house.

It was a relaxing afternoon which lead into a just as relaxing night with everyone chipping in to make dinner before they started to head home. Olivia hung back to help with the cleanup and convinced Peter to go for a walk with her before she headed home. It was a cold night, but it was great for walking and just relaxing. The streets were mostly empty which was odd for Boston but not unwelcome.

"How are you liking our little traditions so far?" Peter asked, his hand clasped around Olivia's.

"Most of them are okay, though some have been a bit odd to be honest. Like the candy cane Jell-O." Olivia admitted and leaned against him. "Did you know that Astrid and Walter were about ready to set up a pool to bet on when we'd get together?"

Peter scrunched up his brow and shook his head. "No, but that doesn't really surprise me." He claimed.

"Really?" Olivia asked and stopped walking.

"Yeah the other day Walter told me that he was glad that we're finally together." Peter nodded. "He acted as if it was something that we should have done many years ago and was shocked that we hadn't yet."

"That's kind of what I gathered from Astrid today as well." Olivia announced and looked up at the sky where snow had started to fall.

"Do you think we should have gotten together a long time ago?" Peter asked.

"Years, no, months, maybe," Olivia admitted. "I've wanted to be with you for a while but you never seemed interested and to be honest I'm still not one hundred percent sure about us being together now. It still feels very sudden."

"If you want to slow down or you don't want this, just let me know Liv." Peter said with a look of concern on his face. "I don't want to push you or make you feel rushed in anyway."

"You're not Peter." Olivia shook her head. "It is a bit fast but I do want this, I do want you."

"I want this and you as well, but if you ever feel rushed just say the word and I'll back off I promise you that." Peter stated, his hands falling to her shoulders.

"I will." Olivia agreed and leaned into his embrace, his arms going around her.

"So a betting pool huh?" Peter chuckled. "Who do you think would have won?"

"Walter." Olivia stated and pulled back so she could look at him. "Even if his prediction was wrong, he would find a way to make it right."

"That I wouldn't doubt." Peter agreed and placed an arm around her shoulders.

The two of them continued to walk into the night, the snow fluttering around them.


	20. Tacky

Sorry this is in so late, I hope to have tomorrow's in earlier.

* * *

Tacky sweater day was what they each walked into that morning. Walter handed them each a very ugly sweater that they were told they had to wear for the whole day. He then lead them into the living room where there were plain sweaters in green and red and a bunch of decorations to put on with an iron or fabric glue. Apparently they were to make their own sweaters to go along with the day.

"You can use anything that is set out." Walter stated. "Just be careful with the iron since it tends to get very hot."

When he was done giving them instructions on how that particular iron worked, they got down to making their own sweaters. Everything that Walter had provided proved to be rather ugly and would make for very tacky stuff.

"Where did you even find this stuff?" Astrid picked up a Santa Clause decoration that was wearing swim trunks and sunglasses.

"We've been collecting this stuff from flea markets and dollar stores." Peter explained. "Those stores tend to have the tackiest things ever and for a very low price."

"Well they are tacky, that's for sure." Olivia agreed.

Peter chuckled at her and picked up what looked like a very drunk Rudolph to iron onto his green sweater. "We didn't really have to look far or hard to find these. They are everywhere this time of year."

"There are actually parties called tacky sweater parties." Walter stated. "Everyone shows up with a very ugly sweater and the others judge them to see which one is the worst. I've never actually gone to one personally, but I find the idea interesting."

"That could be an interesting party to go to." Nina agreed and put a giant bell onto her own sweater. "My mother used to bring me to Christmas parties when I was a child, they were always so dull."

"Too many adults and not enough kids your age?" Astrid asked.

"Yes." Nina nodded. "My mother would always meet up with her friends and leave me at the kids table where I was normally surrounded by children much younger than myself."

"My mother would do the same but she would always dress me up in a red and green suit and have me dance in front of all the adults." Walter announced with a shudder. "I never did get along with my mother that well after that."

"That's horrible Walter." Olivia claimed but couldn't help but let a smile spread on her face.

"What about you, what did your parents have you do?" Broyles asked Olivia who shrugged.

"My mom would always dress my sister and I the same and would bring us to parties, but living on an army base meant a lot of children around our ages, all of which we saw on a daily basis and went to school with. It wasn't that bad, a bit boring but at least we had friends there. What about you Broyles, did your parents make you dress up or dance?"

"No, they did worse." Broyles grimaced and ironed a candy cane on his sweater. "My parents always insisted that I had to be in the school choir. They would make me sing at the parties in front of everyone while wearing a stupid outfit that made me feel ridiculous."

"You had to sing? Poor kid." Astrid stated. "My parents never really went to Christmas parties so I didn't have to worry about any of that. After my mom died, my dad tried going to a few just to see if we could get some comfort out of them, but it didn't do anything but depress him."

"What about you Peter, what did Walter and your mom make you do?" Olivia asked.

Nina who had known Peter since he was a boy, grinned to herself and glanced at Peter who looked like he wanted to melt into the floor.

"Not much." He stated and avoided meeting their eyes.

"Oh come on son, it wasn't that bad." Walter insisted.

"Oh but Walter, it was." Nina shook her head.

"What did they do?" Olivia asked.

"When I was really little, my parents dressed me up as baby new year, but then as I got older, the costumes became odder. One year I would be a reindeer, others I would be Santa."

"That doesn't sound bad." Astrid pointed out.

"No those ones were fine, it was what they made me dress up as when I was twelve that scarred me for life." Peter groaned.

"It really wasn't that bad." Walter insisted.

"Walter you dressed me up in a giant glass bulb and hat which would have been fine if it hadn't been see through and I hadn't been in just my underwear." Peter stated and saw everyone else wince at the thought.

"We didn't know that everyone would see your underwear or that it was see through." Walter stated calmly. "And after that year you were able to decide on your own what you wanted to do, though sadly you decided not to dress up again."

"Oh gee Walter, I wonder why that was." Peter rolled his eyes. "The worst part of that costume wasn't just the fact that everyone could see my underwear but all the girls in my grade seemed to be there at the time. You wouldn't believe how many people started picking on me after that or how many jokes were fueled by it."

"I'm sure your parents meant well." Astrid stated and got a beaming smile from Walter.

"Yeah, I'd much rather have sang or danced." Peter shook his head.

Everyone shared another small laugh and continued working on their sweaters. Slowly they started to call it good and upon Walter's insistence, they slipped the ugly clothing on and observed what the others had done with theirs. All of them were rather hideous with giant bells, reefs, reindeer, Santa's, brightly colored lights and what looked like deformed gingerbread cookies dancing around.

"So do you think that next year we should go to one of those horrible sweater parties?" Astrid asked, looking down at her red sweater.

"I think that would be fun." Walter smiled.

"Yeah well that's a year away." Peter said. "For now, I think it's time for lunch."

"I agree." Walter said and lead them to the kitchen, each of them continuing to wear their sweater.


	21. Money drop

Well we're still alive for now and it's almost Christmas!

* * *

The old station wagon trundled down the road slowly, stopping at random house's so that one of the six people crammed inside could make their way out and to the mailbox of the random house. The person would then open the mailbox, put something inside, close it and then get back into the car for that process to be repeated shortly later. The object that the person would put into the mailbox was a plain white envelope, but inside that envelope was something that would hopefully help to spread some cheer.

The eldest of the group, Walter, had been made the owner of the mega corporation Massive Dynamic and had come into a lot more money that he or his son would ever spend in their lifetimes. So instead of leaving it in a bank account to sit for years on end, they had taken a large sum of money out and had split it up and slipped it into each of the envelopes that were being delivered.

Walter, Nina and Peter had gotten everything straightened out and settled with Massive Dynamic and had collected the money that they felt was needed while Olivia, Astrid and Broyles had done searches to see what families could use the money the most. Together they had compiled a large list of families that were in need of holiday money and had headed out. Each family that would be getting money was one that had children to buy for and that might not have the means of giving their children the Christmas that they wanted to. It made them all happy to know that they were helping to make a difference in others' lives once again.

"How much money did you actually take out?" Astrid asked when she got back in the car from dropping off an envelope.

"We took out enough to help make Christmas better for a lot of families." Peter said. "We actually don't want to say the actual amount though just because we're not sure how other people in Massive Dynamic would take the news about us taking out money from the company."

"Why would they be upset?" Astrid asked and leaned back against her seat.

"William never took money out of the company, he would always keep it there so none of the employees at Massive Dynamic are used to money going anywhere other than towards research or their own pockets." Nina explained.

"So Massive Dynamic has never given to families in need?" Olivia questioned a bit disgusted with the idea.

"No." Nina shook her head. "The company has helped out with other organizations before but does not tend to extend its reach to other's that often."

"Most companies can't afford to make it public that they are giving out money, not even on the holidays." Broyles added. "If people knew that Massive Dynamic was taking out money to give to those in need, everyone would be expecting the company to extend its reach to them as well. There would be too much expectation and not enough to go around."

"That's kind of a sad way to look at it." Astrid pointed out.

"Yes, but even so, it's true." Nina shook her head and took the next envelope.

When they pulled up to the house, she got out and put the money in the box. It had started to rain making it so that they moved a bit faster from the car to the box and then back. Most of them were chilled by the rain and were bunched up together tightly to get some warmth between houses.

"Where to next?" Peter asked when Nina got in the car.

Olivia, who was sitting beside Peter and Walter, crossed off the house they had just hit and looked at the list.

"Our next couples of stops are in Acton." She read off and put the list back in her pocket.

Peter steered the car towards that part of the state and turned on some Christmas music which filled the cab of the car. They all sat back and enjoyed the music while the ones that had window seats watched houses, people and cars go by them, everyone on the streets enjoying the time before Christmas took over. The state always became very busy around Christmas, Boston being the worst place to be when shopping time arrived. It was amazing how many fights would break out over the perfect gift.

"I think the best part about this is that the people who get the money have no idea who gave it to them. They don't have to feel guilty for taking the money and using it. They don't have to feel like they need to pay it back or anything. They can just enjoy it and use it to give their children the Christmas that they want and deserve." Walter said while looking at the next envelope.

"It is nice to give something to the families that can really use them." Olivia agreed and looked at the list again.

They had made sure that each family on that list was one that was going through a hard time and that could really use the money. Most of the people on the list had lost their jobs, or had other life changing events occur that have gotten in the way of their family funds. Most of the families also had young children who still believed in Santa and would be crushed if there was nothing under the tree for them on Christmas day. Though Olivia didn't know the exact amount of money the Bishop's and Nina had agreed to take out, she was fairly certain that it was a very large sum. She was certain that it was enough money to see each family comfortably through the holidays and then for a little time after.

"This is a really good thing that you have decided to do." Olivia stated and got agreement from the others who hadn't known about this tradition until that morning.

"They can use the money a lot more than we can." Peter pointed out and pulled up in front of the next house.

Walter got out and put the money into the box and came back. "It makes us happy to see to the needs of others."

"I still think it's a great thing." Olivia smiled.

She shared a look with Peter before he pulled away from the house and headed towards the next on their list. The group continued to go from house to house until the envelopes were gone and the money with them. When they were finished, they once again made for their own houses with the promise of meeting up again.

Peter and Walter walked into their house later that day only for Walter to go the calendar that hung in the foyer and cross off December 21, 2012 and mumble to himself the amount of days left until Christmas. He then ambled to his room with a smile on his face.


	22. Meals on wheels

A/N: I have to admit that even I'm not a huge fan of this story. But I will finish it so have no fear about that. By the way, I don't own any of the things mentioned in this story that are very obviously owned by other people.

* * *

The next day proved to be a lot like the day before, but instead of dropping off envelopes full of money to needy families, they were bringing them food. The meals on wheels program did this every year. They would collect food all year round and would have days leading up to the holidays where people could bring food for donation. The food would then be separated into boxes and each box would go to a family that needed the food.

Like they had done with the gift wrap, the team was given a set group of people to bring food to. They were then given a list of addresses and names so that they could find the people that each box of food belonged to.

"It's kind of sad to look at the list and see how many people are in need of food this year." Astrid stated while the team filled the back of the station wagon with boxes.

"It's the same every year." Peter pointed out. "People run into tough times, especially this time of year, and they find that they are lacking the things that they need the most like food. The list gets bigger almost every year. Now the biggest problem is that a lot of people are out of work and they just don't have the money to support themselves and their families the way that they used to or need to."

"Has the number of people on the list ever gone down?" Astrid asked and pushed a box into the back of the car.

"A few times it has, but it's not that common." Walter said. "It is nice when you see that the name of a family has been taken off the list because they are able to support themselves completely again. Like the families that we wrapped gifts for and that we brought the money to, a lot of the families on these lists have children that are looking forward to Christmas and other such holiday's and if they don't even have food to fill their bellies, it can lead to great disappointment."

"Sometimes it makes you feel like jumping into some old Christmas movie where everything works out for the best in the end and where just the thought of being with the people you love was enough to make everything special and magical." Peter stated and put a box in the car.

"Sorry to break it to you Peter, but I don't see that happening." Nina pointed out with a small smile.

"Yes and if we did we'd end up singing crap like Fah who foraze, dah who doraze, whatever the hell that even means." Walter claimed with a shake of his head.

"It's a made up song Walter." Peter groaned.

His father has been bringing up song lyrics for the past couple of days and asking Peter what the lyrics meant before he would head onto the computer or to the library to look them up on his own. It kept his father busy, but it was also quickly driving Peter insane. There were time when he was even tempted to tape his father's mouth shut or lock him in a room and walk away.

"I know that." Walter insisted and put the last box in. "Either way, this food is bound to make many families happy this Christmas."

"You can't go wrong with getting free food when money is tight and you have children to take care of." Broyles agreed and closed the trunk of the car.

The group then piled into the limited space that was left, leaving most of them plastered to each other. Their first stop was in the town over from where the meals on wheels headquarters was located, making it so that they didn't have to go that far.

The families that they met while dropping off the boxes did indeed have children, most of them younger than twelve. Some of the families invited them inside, while others thanked them and went back into the warmth of their homes. It was wonderful to see the looks on the faces of the people that the boxes went to. Some of the men shook their hands while some woman actually cried and the children seemed overjoyed as well. Who would have thought that the mere idea of giving someone in need food would bring such joy?

"They are very grateful." Astrid said when their number of boxes had dwindled.

"They might have gone without Christmas dinners if we hadn't have shown up with the food." Walter pointed out. "I remember a few times when Peter was younger that Elizabeth and I ran into tough times and were in need of the food assistance. Just knowing that we could feed our son was enough to bring us joy."

"I remember getting toys from the toy drive as well." Peter announced. "This time of year, a lot of people come to realize that others need help. I just wish that they would help out all year around instead of just on holidays."

"That would be nice." Olivia agreed. "But sadly that doesn't happen much. It's like there has to be something special going on in order to do something special."

"Sadly that is true." Walter sighed and brought the next box up to the house they had parked at.

They continued to drop off boxes, even heading back to get more, until the sun had been set for hours and they were all becoming tired and wanted out of the car. So they dropped off the last of their boxes and headed back to the Bishop house where Walter put a movie into the DVD player and the lyrics "Fah who foraze, dah who doraze" started filling the room.

Walter headed into the kitchen and came back minutes later with massive candy canes that he passed around while everyone got settled in to watch the movie. Nina in a recliner, Astrid and Walter on the Bishop's love seat, while Peter, Olivia and Broyles were on the couch. Peter's arm was around Olivia who leaned into him comfortably and pulled her feet up under her.

The movie played itself out and was replaced by another until each person started to leave one at a time. Eventually it was just Walter, Peter and Olivia left in the house. When the third movie had stopped, Walter looked over to see that the other two had fallen asleep curled up in each other. They both looked so peaceful that he didn't want to disturb them, so instead he grabbed a blanket and placed it over them and headed up to bed, looking back at the sleeping couple with a smile.


	23. Taffy

The smell of hot taffy wafted around everyone in the room. Where it was the first year that they were all together, Walter decided that secret Santa would be something to be put off until the next year. Though they all knew each other very well, he didn't want them to feel pressured this first year. So instead he had informed them that they would be making taffy that day, something that required them to work together without being under pressure or feeling like they had to do anything extravagant.

"You want to make sure that you stir it often and that when you pull it, it's even." Walter instructed.

He was walking around the kitchen, watching each of them at the stations that they were set up at. Broyles and Olivia were in charge of cutting the pieces into relatively equal pieces, Nina was wrapping each piece in plastic to keep them from going bad, while Astrid and Peter, both of whom had made taffy before, were at the stove making the sticky treat.

"If the taffy is too hard, then put it back into the pan to soften it again. It hardens rather quickly and can become crunchy if you're not careful." Walter continued, still walking from place to place.

"Hey Walter, here's a thought, how about you help out?" Peter asked.

His face was red from the heat of the stove, and his hair was curling. Astrid was in a similar way with her hair looking frizzier than normal and her face gleaming with sweat.

"I…Well I suppose I could." Walter agreed and walked over to where Nina was standing and started to help her wrap the treats.

"How long have you been making taffy for Walter?" Olivia asked, seeing that he looked a little down at not being able to boss them around.

"Elizabeth and I used to make taffy all the time for Peter." Walter smiled. "There was a time when Peter would only eat taffy. It didn't sit well with his mother though."

"Is that when she used to make me brush my teeth half a dozen times every day?" Peter asked, looking over at his father.

"Yes." Walter nodded. "She was afraid that if you didn't, you would end up with a mouth full of cavities. Though I think she made you brush more than what was needed, but she was always very cautious when it came to you and your health."

"Was it because Peter was ill as a boy?" Astrid asked.

"Well yes, that and she was always very protective of him even before he became ill." Walter stated and continued to wrap the taffy that Nina handed him. "Both Peter and I would go through odd phases that made Elizabeth mad for the most part. I've always been driven by smells and tastes while I think Peter was the same when he was younger."

"Another thing you have in common." Nina pointed out.

She didn't see the way that Peter cringed slightly or how he rolled his eyes at the thought of being more like his father than he already was. The man wasn't horrible, but Peter had grown up mostly with his mother as his main care giver and wanted to believe that he had picked up more traits from her than he had from his father who had been absent for most of his life.

"I think that's one of the main reasons why my mom became a vegetarian." Peter announced. "I remember going through a meat eating phase and the house was always filled with the smells of cooking meat. When she became a vegetarian, she switched me over to the life style for a while as well but it didn't last long."

"When did she become a vegetarian?" Walter asked, putting his piece of plastic down.

Peter looked away from his father momentarily before answering. "You had already been put in St. Claire's when I went through that phase and she became a vegetarian."

"Oh." Walter said softly and shook his head. "I guess there was a lot that I missed while I was away."

"You get to make up for that now though." Broyles added with a smile of his own. "I don't get to see my kids that much, but when I do I be the best dad that I can be to them. You're doing that now Walter."

Walter looked over at Peter who nodded his agreement to the other man's statement. Peter was then suddenly engulfed in a tight hug that Walter gave him. He patted his father's back soothingly and just let his father hold him for a little bit before Walter pulled back.

"Sorry." Walter said, knowing that his son wasn't one for displays of affection between the two of them.

"It's okay Walter." Peter told him and placed his hands on Walter's shoulders. "You're doing a great job, and I'm glad you're here now."

Walter looked like he was about to cry, but held it in and gave Peter another hug before going back to wrapping the taffy.

The group worked in silence for a while, letting the family feeling really sink into each of them. It was peaceful, working together and not having the need to talk. It spoke volumes about how comfortable they were with each other now and how well they worked together to accomplish a goal that they had set down for themselves, in this case, making and packaging taffy.

"Where do you want to put all of this?" Astrid asked when the last of the taffy had been made.

Peter had taken the pans and was washing them out before the left over taffy could stick to them like glue.

"We'll put them in the fridge for now so that they can cool down evenly." Walter stated. "We'll be able to eat it soon if you're all up to having homemade sweats."

"Well they look really good." Olivia said and took the clean pans from Peter to dry them.

"They should be." Walter said and started to put them in the fridge.

Walter then got them each a glass of eggnog and put in another Christmas movie that they watched until the taffy was cool enough to eat. They shared the sweat treats and then headed to their homes, not knowing what Walter had planned for Christmas Eve.


	24. Movies

Bowls upon bowls of popcorn covered the coffee table. There were steaming bowls of buttered and non-buttered, and bowls of already cooked popcorn in caramel, cheese, chive, and what looked like pink frosting. There were also empty bowls set out for each of them to use, and several bags of chips.

They had all spent the day at work, but were now gathered around the television, getting ready to watch the movies that had been selected for that night. Walter was getting drinks for everyone while they found their spots and got settled in. The Bishop's had brought out a large selection of movies to choose from that ranged from cartoon classics to more recent releases, some of which were good and others that the father and son duo had deemed as the worst Christmas movies ever made.

"Walter, what is on this popcorn?" Astrid asked and pointed to the pink popcorn when Walter had returned to the room.

"That's one of my own creations." Walter stated.

He didn't seem to notice when everyone avoided that bowl after he said that. Instead, he kept getting them drinks and only settled down himself when everyone had something to drink and he had put the first movie into the DVD player.

"So do you have anything planned for us to do tomorrow, or is it just hanging around for the day?" Nina asked and grabbed some popcorn.

Walter seemed to think about it for a moment before he answered. "I think we'll just spend the day relaxing and having a normal Christmas day. I do plan on us having a Christmas dinner tomorrow night, but until then I don't really have anything planned."

"Most Christmas's, we just relax, have breakfast, open gifts and then call it good until around noon when we start cooking. We eat around six and then normally watch a few more Christmas movies." Peter added.

Like the previous night, he and Olivia were sitting close together with Peter's arm around Olivia's shoulders and her feet tucked up under her. They were both comfortable with the way that they were sitting and with everyone else in the room seeing them. Neither wanted to even try and hide the fact that they were taking their relationship further than friends. Though they had yet to go out on a date or do more than snuggle together and kiss, they still felt closer to the other than they had in a while.

Peter had it planned to take Olivia out the next day and give her a gift that he had purchased a few days ago, but wanted to keep that from her until the time came and he could surprise her. It wasn't often that he got the surprise Olivia with anything and was looking forward to doing just that.

"Do any of you have anything planned for the day?" Peter asked, hoping that Olivia would say that she was free.

"I'm going to go and see my kids tomorrow." Broyles said. "I get to see them for half the day before they go with their mom and stepfather."

"I told Walter that I would help him bake pies." Astrid said and smiled at Walter.

"I'll make sure that everything is all set at Massive Dynamic but will be back here later tomorrow." Nina stated.

Everyone then looked at Olivia who shrugged. "I'll call Rachel and Ella in the morning but I'm free all day tomorrow." She said and felt Peter hug her a bit tighter.

"It will be nice to have everyone here for Christmas dinner." Walter beamed at them all in turn before they each turned their attention to the movie that was playing.

The group made their way through "Rudolph", "Elf", "Frosty the snowman", and "Charlie Brown Christmas" before they took a break for more drinks and food.

Astrid went to help Walter bring in more drinks while Nina and Broyles started to talk about something to do with Massive Dynamic. Peter and Olivia both got up to stretch and walk around the room.

"Why are Rachel and Ella not coming to visit?" Peter asked, running his hand down Olivia's arm gently.

"Rachel is back with Greg and they are bringing Ella to see his parents." Olivia explained and leaned into his touch slightly. "I'd like to have them come and visit for the holiday, but I can understand that her grandparents want to see Ella on the holidays as well and I don't want to take that away from them. They don't get to see Ella that often."

"I thought Rachel swore off Greg." Peter stated.

He wasn't a fan of the man though he had never met him before. From what Olivia had told him about the man, he wasn't someone worth the time or love of one of the Dunham women. If Peter ever treated Olivia like Greg treated Rachel, she would leave him in the blink of an eye.

"She did, but she wants Ella to know her father and no matter what Greg does, Rachel still loves him and can always come up with some excuse for him." Olivia explained with a roll of her eyes and a huff.

"I guess it's her choice." Peter sighed and shook his head and changed the topic. "What is your favorite part of Christmas?"

"I like the whole feeling of it." Olivia shrugged. "I like to give and get gifts, the food that is made and served, the warm family feeling. I like all of it."

"It is great to spend the holiday with warmth and happiness." Peter agreed and brushed his knuckles against Olivia's cheek. "I'm glad that you're going to be here this year."

"Me too." Olivia said and welcomed his lips on hers in a soft kiss that was over too soon for their liking.

"Are we ready to get back to watching the movies?" Walter called out when he and Astrid walked back into the room.

Everyone found their spots again and had a small debate on what to watch until they agreed upon the Jim Carry version of "How the Grinch stole Christmas" which Walter put in. They continued to watch movies until late into the night, none of them really wanting to go home. Eventually they started to break up and head to their own houses with the promise of spending Christmas together.


	25. Christmas

Peter and Olivia spent the majority of the morning with the rest of the team, opening gifts and relaxing around the house. When every gift had been opened, Peter took Olivia by the hand and led her out of the house and to the car. He told the others that they would be back later and drove Olivia out to a place that he and his mother used to go on Christmas day.

It was a remote area that was surrounded by woods and was great for hiking. He and his mother used to go hiking and then when the sun would go down around four at night, they would watch the fireworks display that was put on every year. It was always a relaxing day that they had spent, just the two of them.

"What are we doing here?" Olivia asked when they got out of the car.

"I figured we could go hiking for a while." Peter said and zipped up his jacket.

"Hiking?" Olivia asked with a raised eyebrow. "I didn't think you were big into hiking."

"My mom and I used to go hiking every Christmas." Peter announced and tightened his boots. "I'm not a huge fan of hiking, but it's nice to do once in a while."

"Have you brought Walter up here?" Olivia asked, and walked over to him.

"No." Peter shook his head. "The only person that I've come here with before was my mom."

Olivia let the meaning behind that sink in and pulled him into a short kiss.

"Thank you for bringing me here." Olivia whispered on his lips.

"I wouldn't want to bring anyone else." Peter admitted and kissed her again.

They started to make their way into the woods, picking out a path that was fairly easy, not knowing if they were going to run into ice or not. Though it had been a rather mild winter so far, there were still parts that were best to avoid because they had become dangerous to walk through.

"My mom and I used to come here every year after Walter was put away." Peter said after some time had gone by. "She never wanted to celebrate the holiday at home because it always reminded her of my father and how things had been before he went away. Even when we moved out of the house and into an apartment, she didn't want to stay there. So instead she drove us as far out as she could think, and we ended up here."

"You never wanted to go anywhere else?" Olivia asked.

"No, not really." Peter shook his head. "It was nice to just have the day to spend with my mom and relax. She used to work insane hours to pay the bills and then when I dropped out of high school, I got a job of my own so we hardly ever got to see each other. It was like we were living in different houses for the most part."

"It must have been hard." Olivia commented.

"It was, but I think it was also what made it so easy for me to leave home and then later the United States." Peter stated. "My mom used to ask me to come home but I was always too busy with some stupid con. When she died, it made me wonder if I had done the right thing by leaving."

"What your mother did, committing suicide, it was her choice Peter. There was nothing that you could have done to stop that." Olivia pointed out and rested a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Well what's in the past is just that, in the past." Peter shook his head. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up the past."

"It's okay Peter, we all think about family and the things that have happened to us on days like today." Olivia claimed and twined her fingers with his.

They continued to hike until the sun started to set and Peter brought them back to where the car was parked. They had parked in a clearing, leaving it so that they could clearly see the sky. Olivia gave him a slightly confused look when he indicated for her to sit on the hood of the car, but she did as she was instructed and he joined her a minute later.

"This was always my favorite part of the Christmas tradition." Peter announced and smiled brightly when the first hiss of a firework was heard and the colorful explosion filled the sky.

"Fireworks." Olivia said almost in awe, her eyes lighting up.

"You sound a bit shocked." Peter commented and saw her slowly nod.

"Yeah I haven't seen fireworks since I was a kid." Olivia pointed out. "I always work on the fourth of July so I never get out to see the shows that are put on."

"Well then just sit back and enjoy." Peter smiled.

The two of them lounged against the windshield and watched the sky fill with color over and over again until the last firework went off and it was time for them to head back to the house where Walter was preparing the Christmas meal.

When they got back, it was to the smells of turkey, stuffing, vegetables and the works. Everyone greeted them without questioning where they had gone which was nice, and Astrid put them to work with finishing the rest of the stuff off that Walter hadn't already finished earlier that day.

"I think everything is done!" Walter declared and directed them to the table.

The food was great but was gone too quickly for their liking, leaving them all content and full. After everything had been cleaned up and put away, Walter instructed them to stand in front of the Christmas tree like they had many days ago. He set up the camera and joined the group in time for them to all smile and for the flash of the camera to go off. The picture clearly showed how happy they were to be together, smiles on their faces and light in their eyes. A happy, slightly dysfunctional, family.

* * *

MERRY CHRISTMAS!


End file.
